Without You
by lumos175
Summary: Abandoned! Harry was dead and the wizarding world was left in total chaos. Hermione, in a desperate attempt, meddled with time because she could not live her life without him. HHr. AU after HBP. Abandoned!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

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**Prologue**

~*~*~

Hermione Granger stared unseeingly at the sickeningly dark green potion bubbling in front of her. She was lost in the thoughts of her past, which now seemed like a faraway dream.

A voice from the doorway pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Okay Hermione?" Tonks asked her, her eyes wandering over to the potion in front of Hermione.

"Yeah… I'm fine, Tonks. The potion will be ready in a few hours," Hermione informed emotionlessly.

A disturbed look flashed over the Metamorphagus' face and she walked into the dark, tiny room towards Hermione. "I don't want you to do it, Hermione. It's very risky."

"I have to do it, Tonks. You don't understand," Hermione replied blankly, her face still emotionless.

"Hermione, you're not the only one who has lost their loved ones. I lost my parents and Remus... and a lot of other important people to me. But we've got to move on and do what has to be done."

"No, Tonks, there's nothing left to be done."

"What do you mean there's nothing left to be done?!" Tonks almost screamed. "What about Ken? What if your potion fails and you die instead? Are you going to leave Ken alone?"

"Ken is a lot more mature and independent than I was when I was his age. He'll be fine. Besides, he has the rest of you to look after him," Hermione stated.

"But it isn't the same as having his own parents!" Tonks exclaimed, frustrated at Hermione's stubbornness.

"If Harry could survive all those years of his life without his parents, so can Ken. Besides, he'll be twelve soon and he would have been already in Hogwarts had it been open," Hermione retorted.

"Ken is not his father!" Tonks exploded. She took calming breaths, trying to get her anger under control while Hermione continued to look nonchalantly at her. "Hermione, why won't you see reason? Harry is dead and you can't do anything about it. You have to let him go and concentrate on your future with your son."

Hermione sighed.

"Tonks… before I take the potion tonight, I need to tell you something very important... something I've kept secret for a long time. You won't stop me after you hear what I have to say," Hermione said, sadness shadowing her hardened face for the first time since the conversation began.

"Then tell me!"

"Can you go and get Fred please? I'll tell the two of you together. I don't want to have to repeat," Hermione requested.

Releasing a long sigh, Tonks left the dim basement in search of Fred, leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts again.

"_Even if I die because of the potion, it won't make much difference. Voldemort's dark reign will continue with or without me,_" she thought darkly.

Her mind reeled back to twelve years ago when Harry was murdered during their honeymoon by Voldemort who had possessed Draco Malfoy's body. She could not help but think of it constantly and blamed herself for Harry's death.

"Hermione?" Fred's voice startled her from her musings. "Tonks said you have something to tell us?" he inquired.

"Yes... what I'm going to tell you two is very important. You must promise me that both of you will keep it a secret," Hermione demanded. Fred and Tonks nodded their consent, "I think you both should take a seat," Hermione said.

"Do you remember the prophecy that Voldemort lured Harry to steal for him? It broke during the fight with the Death Eaters at the Ministry, but the contents were not lost to us," she started. And then she told them… she told them everything from the prophecy to the horcruxes and they listened raptly, their faces becoming more horror-struck as her story went on.

"You're saying Harry's scar was an unintentional eighth horcrux?" Tonks asked seriously.

"Yes, Voldemort was gloating about it before he killed Harry," Hermione said bitterly.

"But why did Voldemort have to possess Malfoy? Wouldn't it be easier to possess Harry since his soul fragment was already inside Harry?" Fred asked.

"My theory is that Harry fought it out of his body… after all, Harry had his completely intact soul whereas it was only a fragment of Voldemort's. So, the host has to be willing in order for the soul to take possession of the body. I'm sure Malfoy was more than willing," Hermione told them.

"We thought Harry had finished him off during the battle at Hogwarts," Tonks stated sadly.

"We all did Tonks… we all did," Hermione muttered more to herself than to Tonks.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier Hermione? You shouldn't have carried the burden alone. You should've told us… didn't you trust us?" Fred said.

"I trust you but I was afraid if I told you, you would all lose hope and I couldn't let that happen. As dire as the situation is, we still need brave people to stand up against Voldemort especially for those who can't stand up for themselves," Hermione explained solemnly.

"Maybe you're right. We've been fighting in this war for eighteen years… we've lost more loved ones than we can count and now we learn that there's no chance of ever winning," Fred said. His once playful personality disappeared completely when George died ten years ago.

"I think now I can understand why you're so adamant about this potion," Tonks said, her face as serious and grim as her two companions.

"Yes, Tonks, I have to do this. I spent the last eight years finding the ingredients and finally, it's ready now. But you must promise me something… both of you," she implored. "Should I fail, the magic overload will kill me. Please take care of Ken if such things happen. But if I succeed, this plane of existence should no longer exist," she said the last part in a whisper.

"We will protect him with our lives," Tonks promised and Fred nodded.

"I've already explained things to him and said goodbye yeste-"

"You told him everything?" Tonks gasped.

"Not everything but enough for him to understand why I need to do this. I told you Ken is very mature."

"Hermione… you do realize that you will still lose him even if the potion is a success, don't you?" Fred asked tentatively.

"I know, Fred. But I must do this. It's for the best… even for Ken since his life as it is right now is bleak and without any prospects," Hermione replied, sighing as she thought of her twelve-year-old son who, with messy raven hair and green eyes, looked like an exact replica of his father. "Well... I've said all that needs to be said. Can you guys leave me with my thoughts until the potion is ready?"

~*~*~

"Hermione, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Fred asked for the hundredth time that night.

"Fred… Tonks has been discouraging me not to do it ever since she found out about the potion months ago. I'm not changing my mind now," she asserted firmly.

Fred signed in defeat and nodded. "Very well. I should know... once you put your mind to something, nobody can stop you. Just how far will the potion take you back anyway?"

"Technically, it won't take me back. Instead it takes my memory back and my younger self at that time will have all the knowledge I possess now. I can't say exactly how far back but definitely more than ten years… it depends on how powerful I am. The potion had only been done twice before… at least that's what was recorded in the book I found. Once in the 900's and the other one was in the 1100's. In the first one, the drinker was sent 25 years back in time; the second one, 17 years."

Fred and Tonks contemplated what Hermione said in silence until she broke it.

"It's time."

After placing locking, silencing and shield charms on the basement of their hide-out, Fred and Tonks stood at one corner with their own protective bubble around themselves.

Hermione took out the phoenix ash from her robes; it was one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain because phoenixes were rare creatures and not only that, she also had to find one on its burning day and take the ash quickly before it could be reborn. Afterwards the ash had to be put under a difficult stasis charm to prevent rebirth of the phoenix.

Taking a deep breath, she added the phoenix ash before stirring the potion clockwise. It began to sizzle and turned from dark green to blue. She muttered a long string of difficult Latin words waving her wand in intricate patterns over the potion and soon enough, a bright white beam slowly emerged from the tip of her wand and entered the potion. A counter-clockwise stir followed before Hermione took out a knife and cut her wrist, allowing blood to fall into the potion drip by drip.

She whispered the last incantation and a burst of magic flowed out of her and into the potion, which started to shimmer with white light. Hermione wasted no time in filling up a goblet. Her eyes landed on her long-time friend and with a nod, she drank the sparkling potion.

Tonks and Fred waited with bated breath as Hermione downed the potion in one gulp. She staggered a few steps before her whole body shimmered and started to shine like a bulb. The air crackled with the rising levels of magic as Tonks and Fred speechlessly watched Hermione grow brighter and brighter in front of them. Before they could move, a pulse of magical energy hit them, throwing them into the wall.

Trying to get up onto their feet, they could feel life force sapping and the light had partially blinded their eyes. They couldn't move and they couldn't see… darkness had consumed them.

A second later, they knew no more of the world.

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Thank you for reading. Please review if you can. :)


	2. Hermione's Arrival

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

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**Chapter 1 – Hermione's Arrival**

~*~*~

Harry could not believe he did it but he had actually gotten past the first task alive and without any serious injuries. Ron was talking to him again and life could not be any better (if he ignored the second task for the time being). Looking around the common room, he saw his housemates, especially Fred and George, happily celebrating, passing around the food and the Butterbeers they had nicked from the kitchens.

He was about to get himself a Butterbeer when an unearthly scream pierced the common room. "_That voice sounds so familiar_," he thought. Worried, he searched the room for the source of the noise and found a group of people already whispering and crowding around a corner. He hurriedly made his way there, pushing past some people, and he found…

"HERMIONE!!!"

Hermione lay there unconscious, looking fragile and pale with drops of blood trickling down from her nostrils. Harry rushed to her side and took her in his arms, calling her name and trying, in vain, to shake her awake.

"What happened?!" came Ron's panic-filled voice at his side.

"I don't know. Let's just take her to the hospital wing! C'mon… quick!" Harry replied.

Picking up her small form, Harry ran out of the common room to the hospital wing with Ron right behind his heels.

"Madam Pomfrey!!! Where're you? We need you here!" yelled Harry, panting from the effort of carrying Hermione all the way from the Gryffindor tower.

"Potter! This is a hospital wing! Lower your voice!" Madam Pomfrey's voice came from her office even before the stern healer was in sight. "Now, what seems to be the probl- Miss Granger?"

"Yes. Can you have a look at her now? What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, apparently worried about Hermione.

"Put her on the bed," she said, muttering and running her wand over Hermione's body after Harry had laid her on the nearest bed. A frown appeared on her face before she started to do the procedure all over again.

"Can you tell me how she lost unconscious?" she asked the boys.

"We don't know. We were having a party in the common room when I heard her scream. By the time I found her, she was already unconscious." Harry informed her.

"I can't find anything life-threatening for now. Her vital signs are normal and her magical levels are unaffected although her brain activities are unusually high. I need to investigate further but they don't seem to be causing her further harm. What was she doing before she lost consciousness?"

"Erm… just celebrating in the common room," Harry provided.

She had a thoughtful look on her face.

"So what're you trying to say? Is there anything wrong with her?" Ron asked curtly.

She gave him a disapproving frown before replying, "I cannot say for sure what caused her to collapse but she is not any immediate danger. She seems to be in sleep but I will of course keep her monitored for any changes overnight."

"In sleep? Madam Pomfrey, are you sure? She screamed as if she was being tortured!" Harry questioned.

"I have been a healer for over thirty years, Mr. Potter. I would find it if there's anything wrong with her. Right now, the best we can do is to wait for her to wake up by herself," she replied sternly but understandingly.

"But-"

"No buts. I assure you she will be perfectly taken care of here. Now you two should go back to your dormitory before curfew starts," she said with finality in her voice.

Harry sighed and took Hermione's hand in his, squeezing it gently. "Wake up soon okay? We're all worried about you. G'night. I'll come and see you in the morning," he added softly.

~*~*~

Harry did visit Hermione in the morning with Ron like he had promised but she still had not woken up yet. Instead she was lying there, sleeping peacefully as if she had not a worry in the world. After Madam Pomfrey assured them that she was not in any danger and that she should wake up soon, the two friends left the hospital wing.

Harry went to his classes although his mind was wandering off to Hermione half of the time. What really had him worried was that Madam Pomfrey could not diagnose a problem with her, thus she could not give any treatment. He wondered if it was how his friends felt when he ended up in the hospital wing.

After their dinner in the Great Hall, he and Ron walked to the Hospital Wing, wanting to check up on Hermione again in case she had woken up. The strict healer was currently taking care of a small Hufflepuff who had blisters all over his hands. She looked up and acknowledged them with a nod.

They sat beside Hermione's bed, silently watching her still form for any sign of movements. "Do you think she'll be okay?" Harry asked Ron.

"She should be. She's always been the strong one. Besides, Madam Pomfrey couldn't find anything wrong with her," Ron tried to assure Harry.

"I hope so. I haven't even thanked her properly for her help in the first task," Harry said when a soft moan penetrated the silent atmosphere for the Hospital Wing.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and then at Hermione, who suddenly had a pained expression on her face. She let out another moan, louder than last time, and shifted slightly in her bed.

"She's coming around! MADAM POMFREY!" Ron yelled.

~*~*~

She could feel her head throbbing slightly with pain but everything else was so blurry. She tried to remember where she was but she was assaulted by a sudden rush of confusing memories, causing her to let out a moan of pain.

She heard somebody yelling in the background but she concentrated harder… Tonks and Fred… there was a potion… and pain, excruciating pain everywhere in her body… then as if a dam broke, all her memories came rushing back to her clearly. She remembered how she spent years, hunting for the potion ingredients, how she explained things to Fred and Tonks, how her body became saturated with magic in the last minute before the potion took effect...

"_I'm either dead and in some ethereal world or the potion really worked!"_ she thought.

She opened her eyes slowly and came face to face with a pair of green eyes she had not seen in nearly thirteen years. Launching herself into Harry's arms, she hugged the confused and worried boy tightly. Tears rolled down her cheeks against her will and she hugged Harry tighter.

"It worked! It worked! Oh Harry I'm so happy to see you again!" she muttered hysterically, now openly sobbing into Harry's chest.

"Hermione… it's okay. I'm here. It's okay," Harry whispered, patting her back comfortingly yet awkwardly.

She finally stopped crying and let go of Harry, noticing that Ron and Madam Pomfrey were looking at her worriedly. Somewhat embarrassed at her breakdown, she smiled at them tentatively and said, "Hello."

"Miss Granger, how are you feeling? Lie down on your bed. Let me have a look at you," Madam Pomfrey said, pushing her back to her bed.

"I'm okay Madam Pomfrey but what happened though? Why am I here?" Hermione asked.

"We're hoping you can tell us. The two of them weren't any help," Madam Pomfrey answered, nodding to Harry and Ron.

Hermione struggled for an answer. Memories from both timelines overlapped since she had not changed anything yet and she was finding it impossible to distinguish one from the other. She looked at Harry and Ron; both of them looked quite young which would put them around fourth or fifth year.

"Miss Granger?"

"I don't know," she replied feebly.

"Impossible. You know the entire library of Hogwarts!" Ron exclaimed.

"You were asleep for the whole day since Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley brought you in yesterday. But I still cannot detect anything wrong with you. Everything is normal except for your highly active brain waves, which is not detrimental to you in any way… just very uncommon. And yes Mr. Weasley, they're way too active even for Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey added when Ron looked ready to interrupt her.

Hermione tried to absorb the healer's explanation. "_Of course my brain activity would be increased. I've got twenty years worth of memories dumped into my head_," she thought.

"Hermione, are you sure you really don't know what happened to you? We were all in the common room celebrating when you screamed and fell unconscious," Harry said.

"I really don't know. The last thing I remember is being in the common room," Hermione replied, glad that Harry had revealed something.

"Can I leave now Madam Pomfrey? You said you can't find anything wrong with me, right? Please?" she begged.

Madam Pomfrey looked hesitant but she finally let Hermione go after making her promise that she would come back even if she felt the slightest bit uncomfortable.

The three of them walked back to the common room.

"Harry and I got your homework for today," Ron informed her.

Hermione looked at him and realized that she had not seen Ron in fifteen years. She gave him a tight hug and said, "It's so good to see you again Ron… and thanks for the homework too."

Both boys looked at her strangely. "Hermione, are you sure you're alright? You're acting strangely since you woke up. First, you acted as if I came back from the dead… I mean, the dragon was dangerous and all… but I'm fine now. Then, just now, you acted in the same way with Ron. I'm worried about you," Harry said.

Hermione was very pleased inside that Harry was very worried about her. She gave them a big smile, took their hands and headed towards the Gryffindor tower. "I'm fine guys. I'm just happy to see the two of you again."

"_He mentioned a dragon, which means it has to be fourth year. Good… I can save Sirius and Dumbledore… and maybe Cedric_," she thought, forming a plan of action in her mind and dragging the two confused boys along with her.

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Constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks for reading! :)


	3. A Secret and A Disappointment

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

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**Chapter 2 - A Secret and A Disappointment**

~*~*~

Hermione Granger lay awake in her bed, her mind working at hundred miles a second, going over things she needed to do if she were to prevent Voldemort from winning. The first thing that popped into her mind was whether Harry should be told or not and the answer came easily – a firm yes.

This was all about Harry and his destiny. It would not be fair if she were to keep information from him like Dumbledore like. It, of course, did not mean she had to tell him everything about the other timeline… only those bits and pieces concerning the war and the horcruxes. Harry had never liked it when people kept the truth from him - Dumbledore's revelation of the prophecy at the end of fifth year proved that.

And that thought led to another matter – should she tell Dumbledore as well? Things would definitely be a lot easier if she had Dumbledore's help especially since she was only in fourth year with limited resources. But Dumbledore had always had this idea of wanting to protect Harry's innocence and not wanting to put the weight of the world on his shoulder, which she thought was absolute nonsense. No matter how much he wanted to protect Harry, it would finally come down to Harry and Voldemort in the end, thus Harry need to be trained properly to face the Dark Lord.

Even after the prophecy had been revealed, Dumbledore failed to give Harry the necessary training but instead showed him memories of the young Tom Riddle, which could be done in one night instead of the entire year it took. The thought that Dumbledore knew Harry was a horcrux and was all this time setting him up so that Harry would sacrifice himself crossed her mind several times over the years, but she decided to give her Headmaster the benefit of the doubt. Nevertheless, they could have completed their horcrux hunt a lot faster and easier if they had proper training.

No matter what her decision on letting Dumbledore know was, they needed to start training themselves and collecting the horcruxes… that was for sure. But most importantly, Harry must learn Occlumency to prevent Voldemort from discovering her secrets through their link after his resurrection at the end of this year.

She was then bitterly reminded of Barty Crouch Jr. in Hogwarts. What should she do about him? Should she expose him or let him do his job? Wheels turned in her mind and Hermione plotted out what she should do before tiredness took over and she slipped into a restless sleep.

~*~*~

After finishing her Charms homework in record time, Hermione looked over at Harry and Ron, who were sitting across from her and busily trying to finish a potion assignment last minute.

Forcing down her urge to nag them for procrastinating, she quickly wrote a note and slipped it to Harry inconspicuously. It read, "_Meet me in the common room at midnight. Alone._"

Harry raised an eyebrow at her curiously but her face remained neutral and didn't betray anything. He finally gave a slight nod. Satisfied that he was coming, she quickly gathered her parchments and quill and said, "I'm going to bed now. G'night guys! And finish your homework, okay?"

She set an alarm and tried in vain to get some sleep before midnight came. At ten minutes to twelve, she quietly sneaked out of bed and down to the common room to find Harry sleeping peacefully on the couch. She nearly did not have the heart to disturb his sleep but she realized how important it was to have this talk with Harry.

"Harry. Wake up, Harry," she said, shaking his shoulder softly.

He groaned and his eyes opened slowly. "Hermione?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"Yeah. How long have you been sleeping here?"

"Erm… not long I guess. We just finished our homework so I decided to wait for you here."

"Okay. I can check it over for you later if you want. But now, I need you to be fully awake. Are you?" she asked.

"Yup, I'm completely awake. So what is it that you want?"

"I want to talk to you about something," she started. "Recently, the knowledge that will determine the fate of the entire world has come into my possession."

Harry stared at for awhile before he burst out laughing heartily. "Nice one, Hermione. I didn't know you had it in you to joke around!" he exclaimed.

Hermione's face turned into a frown and she pursed her lips. "Harry Potter! How many years have you known me?" She continued without letting Harry speak. "Have I ever joked around or played pranks like Fred and George? And especially at the middle of the night."

"Umm... I guess not," Harry replied slowly. "But Hermione... knowledge that determines the fate of the world? Forgive me but that sounds a lot like Trelawney."

Smiling with mild amusement, she answered. "I assure you Harry that I have not gone wonky like Trelawney but this really is important and I'm not kidding you."

"What is it about then?" he asked, still looking sceptical.

"Before I can tell you, you must learn something called Occlumency. It is a mind magic that aims to protect your mind against any type of magic that can intrude or manipulate your mind," she explained.

"Okay... I'm starting to get the feeling that this is quite serious. Let me just get this straight... what you want to tell me is so important that I need to create a virtual safe box in my mind by this Occlumency thingy," Harry stated.

"Yes, that's the gist of it. It is crucial that you learn Occlumency, Harry... not only for what I'm going to tell you but also for other things that might happen in the future. If truly proficient in Occlumency, you can never be placed under the Imperius curse or the Veritaserum serum, which is a truth potion. It'll be beneficial for you," she clarified.

Harry sighed. "I have my plates full with the Triwizard tournament but I guess I trust you. I'll learn Occlumency."

Hermione beamed. "That's great!"

"But I have a question. If it is that important, why are you planning to tell me and not somebody like Dumbledore?" he enquired.

"I want to tell you first because it concerns you more than anyone else. But after you've learned the truth, you can decide if you want to tell Dumbledore," she offered.

"It concerns me?"

"You'll find out soon enough if you learn Occlumency quickly," she replied mysteriously. "There's also another thing I wanna talk about. I know we're already practising spells for your tasks in the tournament but I want to add in physical training to our sessions," she informed him.

Upon seeing his bewildered expression, Hermione decided to elaborate. "What I meant is that I want us to exercise so that we'll be fit physically and we will also step up the level and type of magic we're practising. It is very important."

"You sure you're not pulling my leg?"

"Harry, I'm not Ron. I take things seriously."

"Okay okay, sorry. But it's just that-"

"Do you trust me?" Hermione asked.

"Erm-"

"Just yes or no?"

"Yes," came Harry's firm answer.

"Then listen to me."

~*~*~

It was 4:50 a.m. and every occupant of the Gryffindor fourth year boys dormitory was asleep… except Harry Potter, who was getting ready for his morning run after being woken up by Crookshanks. It had been a week since Hermione had started her crazy training routine - they would get up at five every morning, go jogging around the lake and then lift weights in a room called the Room of Requirement. Harry had no idea how she found this room but assumed that it must be from Hogwarts: A History.

They told Ron that Harry was training for the Triwizard Tournament and persuaded him to join but Ron insisted that he would rather hug Aragog than lose his sleep, which annoyed Hermione to no end. Harry did not understand why they could not tell Ron the truth about 'the secret' but Hermione put her foot down that nobody could know anything about it before Harry himself did. After the first few days, Harry had refused to get out of bed because his entire body was aching but Hermione was persistent and sent Crookshanks up to the boys dormitory. Much to Harry's dismay, the half-kneazle obeyed his mistress without a fault. One thing that really surprised him was Hermione's great perseverance. She was in a much poorer shape physically than he was during those workout sessions but she never gave up.

In the evening, they would return to the Room of Requirement to learn new hexes, jinxes and curses, and to duel afterwards. Harry decided that he had previously underestimated his best friend because she came up with more and more difficult stuff every time they practised and defeated him in ten minutes with a dozen of spells and hexes he had never heard of before. The reason he could hold out even this long was because she had slower reflexes and got tired faster. That prompted him to practise harder and work with more determination in their duels. Ron would, sometimes, join them when he got tired of beating everyone in chess.

Then came his Occlumency lessons. All he did right now was to clear his mind, meditate and build walls around his 'mental sanctuary' but he found the whole thing very relaxing. It particularly helped him sleep dreamlessly and soundly, reinforced by the exhaustive physical and magical trainings he underwent. Wondering how Hermione found time to learn all these new things despite her perfect scores in schoolwork, Harry asked her after an Occlumency lesson one night.

"Hermione, do you learn all those things just by reading?"

"No, Harry, not by reading alone. How? Isn't that why you're learning Occlumency? So that I can tell you," Hermione answered. "By the way, I'm gonna test your Occlumency with Legilimency next week. I just want you to be better prepared."

"Legilimency?" he asked.

"It's the opposite of Occlumency. It is used to enter a person's mind and read the thoughts and memories."

~*~*~

Looking unseeingly at Harry and Ron playing with Fred and George's fake wands in McGonagall's class, Hermione thought of how well Harry had done during the last one week. He was a quick learner, quicker than she was in the other timeline. She could not say much about his Occlumency yet but she would know soon enough.

The spells and the Occlumency came back to her easily as if relearning a skill one had learned a long time ago but had forgotten. The hard part was the physical workout sessions, which nearly did her in every time but she hoped her body would get accustomed to it soon enough. During her free time when she wasn't training with Harry, she would practise wandless magic by herself. In the first timeline, she had been able to perform simple spells wandlessly but Harry was the one who had complete control of his wandless magic.

She was pulled out of her musing when Professor McGonagall scolded Harry and Ron for their childishness. "_I think she's gonna announce the ball_," she thought to herself.

And McGonagall indeed did. The whole class broke out in excited whispers but Hermione was once again lost in own thoughts. "_I can't believe I forgot about the Yule Ball! What am I gonna do now? Should I ask Harry?_"

Hermione knew without a doubt that she wanted to go with Harry but the same could not be said about him because she noticed him ogling at Cho Chang the other day. It was hard to suppress her feelings for Harry but she managed to stay focused on more important things. Besides, after living thirteen years without him… or at least having the memories of those years, spending time with him and helping him seemed sufficient for the time being.

"_Well… the whole purpose of the time potion is to change how things go. I guess I can make the best use of it. Besides, I'm not doing anything bad. I'll ask him to go with me tomorrow_," she reasoned to herself.

She fell asleep that night, hoping that Harry would agree to go with her.

~*~*~

"Harry, wait!" Hermione called out before he could enter the Gryffindor common room.

He turned around and looked at her questioningly, "Yes?"

She had been planning to ask him to the ball the whole day but she could not pluck up enough courage. She thought of how she had battled Death Eaters without fear but asking her best friend to the ball scared her; she laughed silently to herself. She was so distracted during their training just now that Harry kept hitting her with the hexes she had taught him and finally beat her in their duel.

And now she stood in front of the Gryffindor common room entrance, gathering the Gryffindor courage she supposedly had.

"Erm… I was thinking about the Yule Ball and… I- uh- I was wondering whether you wanna go with me?" she finally spilled out.

Harry's face changed from confusion to surprise to unease in a matter of seconds and that was all the answer Hermione needed but she listened on, hoping against hope that she read his expressions wrongly.

"Hermione… look… I- I- erm- no offence-"

"It's okay, Harry. I understand if you don't want to go with me. No problem," she said quickly before Harry could finish. She uttered the password to the Fat Lady and entered the common room hurriedly, not wanting to hear any more of Harry's rejection. She knew she should react like the mature woman that she was supposed to be, but the teenage girl part of her had another idea. Feeling her heart drop to her stomach, she raced across the common room to the girls dormitory but a hand grabbed her shoulder before she could reach it.

"Hermione… I- I'm sor-"

She turned around, wearing a smile, and said, "Harry, it really is okay. It doesn't matter, alright? Now... I don't know about you but I'm knackered. G'night." She patted his arm and smiled more widely before she ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

Thank god for the war years that had hardened or she would not have been able to mask her dejection effectively and would've made Harry feel bad about turning her down. Depressed and exhausted, she changed into her night clothes and crawled into bed.

"_Maybe I should give him more time to mature. He may have the magical aptitude to rival that of Dumbledore but he's still a fourteen-year-old boy stumbling through his feelings_," she thought before sleep claimed her.

* * *

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	4. Harry's Regret

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Harry's Regret**

~*~*~

The following few days after Hermione had asked him to the ball had been extremely awkward, at least on his part because if she felt as awkward as he did, she never showed. When Harry tried to bring it up the next morning to apologize to her again, she brushed it off and went about their daily training as if nothing happened. He was beginning to think he was the only one making a big deal out of it. Hermione probably had wanted to go with him because he was her friend and she would not be uncomfortable with him.

To be truthful though, he actually had mixed feelings about her asking him. Hermione had always been a great friend and very loyal to him. Since they started their training, Harry had grown a lot closer to her as they spent nearly all the time together. He felt very comfortable with her and liked her a lot, which was confusing in itself.

The reason for it was simple. Cho Chang. Harry's attention had been caught by the pretty Ravenclaw seeker since last year and he had been crushing on her ever since. When the Yule ball was announced, Harry imagined himself going to the ball with Cho and that was what made him refuse Hermione. If he liked Cho, it meant he didn't like Hermione in same way because he could not fancy two girls at the same time, could he? He decided that Hermione was just a very dear friend to him.

It had been more than a week since he turned down Hermione's offer and he still had not asked Cho yet. "_Where's the Gryffindor courage when you need it?_" he thought. Ron's constant complaining about not having a good-looking date was putting Harry on edge since a dance partner was mandatory for him. Harry swore silently to himself that he would ask her today no matter what.

~*~*~

"Harry! Don't get distracted! It could mean your life in a real duel, do you know that?" Hermione yelled for the tenth time that night after she revived him.

"Not everyone is as perfect as you are, Hermione," Harry retorted.

Hermione gave him a frown and narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't get shirty with me. I didn't do anything to warrant your horrible behaviour towards me."

Harry sighed, feeling terribly guilty that he had lashed out at Hermione, who did not deserve it. Like he had promised himself, he did finally make use of the legendary Gryffindor courage and asked Cho to the ball, only to get disappointed because she already had someone else to go with. As a result, he had been feeling miserable and moody all day, not to mention totally helpless and preoccupied.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that I didn't have a very… nice day," he apologized. "Can we just stop the duelling now? Please? Let's just do Occlumency today… meditation calms me down. Besides, you said you want to test me tonight, didn't you?" Harry pleaded.

"Okay, Harry… I guess I can understand. Let's move on Occlumency then," Hermione relented. "But don't get used to it! You cannot be distracted by other things when you're really fighting," Hermione warned.

"Hermione, you talk as if I'm gonna be engaging in a lot of fights," Harry remarked.

"You never know. But don't worry, I'll tell you-"

"When I master Occlumency," Harry finished for her. Hermione just smiled and nodded.

Harry sat down on the comfortable couch the Room provided and relaxed his body so that he could go into meditative state. A few minutes later, Harry was completely at peace and his mind and body were connected as one.

"I'm ready," he claimed with tranquillity.

"You have to open your eyes, Harry. Exceptionally few people can do it without eye contact," Hermione said in an amused voice.

Opening his eyes, Harry stared into Hermione's chocolate brown ones and suddenly felt a feeling of warmth enveloped him. They seemed to be lost in each other's eyes before Hermione shook her head slightly as if waking up from a daydream. "Ready Harry?" she asked.

Harry nodded.

"Legilimens!"

A foreign, yet not unpleasant, presence brushed against his mental walls subtly, causing him to strengthen them. After a few minutes passed, the presence became stronger and more persistent forcing him to fortify his shields even further. Time seemed inconceivable as Harry tried to hold Hermione in a stalemate. Minutes... or perhaps hours had passed and now Hermione was attacking him full force. Much to his surprise, Hermione's presence became more forceful than he could imagine and his shields, despite his best efforts, shattered. Memories flashed through his mind in rapid succession but before he could actually realize what was happening, Hermione left his mind as quickly as she entered it, leaving him slightly disorientated.

"Harry, that was excellent progress especially in just two weeks," Hermione complimented. "How're you feeling right now? Okay? Any headaches?" she asked. Harry shook his head groggily.

"No. Just a bit disorientated," Harry answered. "You got into my mind after my shields failed, right?" he asked.

"Yes, I had access to your memories but I didn't want to invade your privacy so I didn't look through any of them. But if somebody uses Legilimency to seek information from you, they would search for the memory they want after your shields break. Expert Legilimens are more subtle though… some can reach inside your mind without you noticing," she explained.

"Oh. So, how are my shields? Am I qualified to know the precious secret of yours yet?"

"You're progressing very quickly… quicker than I expected. It took me longer than a month to reach the level you're at and you've been at it for only two weeks," she confessed.

"But Hermione… when did you find time to learn all those stuff that you've been teaching me?" Harry asked curiously.

"Erm… I-"

"Never mind, another one of your secrets," Harry grumbled good-naturedly.

"I promise, Harry. You'll know everything as soon as your Occlumency is good enough. But you need more practice. When you master the art, the shields will become second nature to you and they'll be as solid as steel."

"When do you think I'll master this Occlumency?" he asked interestedly.

"I can't say for sure but at the rate you're progressing now, I can guess that you'll be ready by the end of the second task. But you'll still have to keep practising after that. Occlumency is all about practice. Very well then… let's call it a night and get back to the common room… since your day isn't so good."

"Uhh... don't remind me," Harry complained as he dragged himself out of the cosy couch and trudged after Hermione, his mind going over the day's event. "_I should've asked Cho earlier. Now, who am I gonna ask?_" he cursed himself mentally. Just then, Hermione's voice shook him out of his depressingly thoughts.

"Harry, come on! Walk faster… we have homework to do remember?" She urged him with an impatient voice.

Looking at her, Harry was suddenly struck by a thought and walked faster to keep up with her.

"Hermione," he started but his mouth suddenly became very dry and he gulped. He could feel his heart pumping furiously against his ribs and he tried to swallow the lump beginning to form in his throat.

Hermione looked at him curiously and raised her eyebrows in question. "Yes?"

"Uh… I was thinking- erm- if you… do you already have somebody to go to the ball with? If not, would you… will you- gototheballwithme?"

~*~*~

Hermione's jaw dropped and she looked at him with undisguised shock, her mouth hanging open. "_Did he just say what I heard? Did he just ask me to go to the ball with him?_" she thought disbelievingly.

She stared at him as she was rendered completely speechless for a moment, making him squirm nervously under her flabbergasted gaze. She was woken out of her shock by his tentative voice.

"Hermione?" Harry was looking at her with hopeful eyes, his hands playing with a loose thread in his sweater.

Hermione wanted to burst out laughing at the irony of it. He had refused her when she asked him but now, he was in front of her, asking her timidly to go with him. She was filled with happiness, anger and longing at the same time, leaving her breathless.

She was overjoyed because Harry had at least asked her this time unlike in the first timeline, angry since she was the back-up after Cho had rejected him and disappointed as she had already accepted Viktor, who had asked her four days ago. Hermione felt sorely tempted to say yes to Harry right now but the mature, logical part of her kicked in and reminded her that it would not be fair to Viktor. After all, he was a good friend and ally in the other timeline and had taken the dangerous role of being a spy to Voldemort after Snape was discovered and killed.

"Harry, I'm… I'm really sorry but someone else had already asked me and… I agreed to go with him," she said albeit reluctantly.

His face fell and he looked so dejected that Hermione nearly went back on her words.

"Oh, okay. No problem… erm- great."

"Harry, I'm really sorry," Hermione said softly as she took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before they both headed to the Gryffindor common room in awkward silence.

They found Ron in the common room, looking miserable with books, parchments and quills spread all over the table in front him.

"Hey Ron," Hermione greeted him. "How's your homework coming?"

"Worse than ever," he mumbled, not looking up at her.

"It can't be that bad. C'mon Ron, that transfiguration essay is due tomorrow!" Hermione persuaded as she and Harry sat down on the other side of the table.

Ron did not reply but stared at his transfiguration textbook. Heaving a long sigh, he finally looked up at Harry and said, "Harry, got a date yet?"

Harry mimicked Ron's sigh just a moment ago. "No."

"Ahh! We're going to be the only ones without dates if we go on like this… well, except Neville of course."

"You know, Ron... Neville's already got someone," Hermione informed.

"How do you know?" Harry asked.

"He asked me… said I'm the only girl who is kind to him," she replied. A look of pure disbelief flashed through both Harry and Ron's faces and they stared at her strangely.

"You're going with Neville?" Harry questioned incredulously.

"No… he asked Ginny after I refused him," Hermione said, not wanting to give too much detail because she wanted to see how Harry would react to the idea of someone else bringing her to the ball.

"Then who're you going with?" he asked impatiently, his voice edged with slight envy.

"You'll find out at the ball," she grinned teasingly, glad to find traces of jealousy and annoyance in Harry regarding her Yule Ball date. At least she hoped she was not imagining them.

They both gave her a frown but Ron's face suddenly broke out in triumph and he exclaimed, "Of course Neville's right. Hermione, you're a girl! You can go with me! I don't think anybody asked you. You refused Neville just because you don't want to go with him, right?"

She glared at Ron viciously as hurt and anger flowed through her body. How could he say that to her? How could he just assume that nobody except Neville asked her? In fact, two of the most famous wizards had asked her to be their partner. "_He didn't change the slightest. He asked me as a last resort and thought so little of me_," she raged to herself.

"Believe it or not, Ron, somebody did ask me and I **am** going with him," she said in an infuriatingly calm voice although if looks could kill, Ron would be dead by now. Stuffing all the things she had taken out just now back into her bag, she stood up and looked at Harry. "By the way Harry, Parvati isn't going with anybody yet. I'm sure she'll be happy to go with you."

With that said, she stomped off to the girls dormitory, hoping to get her work done there. She couldn't understand why Ron's comment made her so angry, knowing that he would definitely say something like that, but she really couldn't help it.

Despite all those twenty-year worth of memories she had obtained, she was still partly an emotional teenager inside.

* * *

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	5. The Yule Ball

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Chapter 4 - The Yule Ball**

~*~*~

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled as a red beam hurtled towards Hermione who blocked it easily.

"Harry, use more advanced spells! You'll never best me if you're only using the basic ones!" Hermione warned before she sent a flaming ball of fire towards Harry, who hastily ducked.

Enraged that Hermione would think so little of him, Harry sent a bone-breaking curse her way. She quickly hopped to her left, her wand already releasing a bright yellow flash of light in return, which Harry suspected to be the blinding curse they learned some days ago.

"Reflecto protego!" Harry erected a reflective shield charm and the curse bounced back towards Hermione, who ducked and got ready to curse him again. But Harry was faster. A whip-like blue ray emerged from his wand and wrapped around Hermione, who was caught off guard. A flicker of panic flashed through her face and for a split second, Harry thought he had won. But her expression quickly turned serene and Harry watched incredulously as his spell-whip dissolved into nothing!

His surprise nearly cost him as Hermione, a flick of her wand, propelled a dozen or more small knives towards him at an incredible speed. Harry dived out of the way, barely escaping the knives and before he could gather himself, Hermione had already disarmed him. Frowning, he stood up and grumbled, "I lost again!"

"Well… it took me thirty two minutes this time compared to the usual ten to fifteen minutes so it means you're getting better," Hermione said as she handed his wand back to him.

"How did you get out of my whip incarceration, anyway? You said nobody can escape," Harry asked curiously.

"I sort of forgot to tell you the counter of the spell. It is actually not impossible to break out of it if the person knows how. The spell is tied to one's emotions so it will feed on your panic and distress, and get stronger. The more you freak out, the harder for you to escape until the spell finally discharges a pulse of energy and makes you lose consciousness which will not return with a simple Rennervate. So the key to this is to relax and have positive emotion, similar to the Patronus. It's a very old spell and you can count the number of people who know in one hand. Besides, imagine you're in a duel and the whip has tied you up, you'll definitely panic so this spell is extremely effective," she explained.

"Sneaky," Harry remarked. "How about the flying knives that you used? That was really scary," Harry said, thinking of how alarmingly fast the deadly weapons dashed towards him.

"It's actually considered a class-I dark spell by the Ministry-"

"Dark spell?!! Hermione, you used dark arts?! The curse could've killed me!" Harry exclaimed, horrified that Hermione would use the dark arts.

"Harry, I'd rather die than let you get hurt. You know that, don't you?" Hermione assured him with conviction.

Although he was touched by what she said, he was still disturbed by the fact that his ultimate rule-following best friend did something that was forbidden by the Ministry of Magic.

"That's beside the point, Hermione. The thing is that you're using the dark arts! And teaching them to me!"

"Harry, just because it is considered a dark spell doesn't mean I'm using the dark arts. There's a difference, you know. The severing charm which is second year magic can kill if you hit a person's carotids and they bleed to death. That would be considered as dark arts if you deliberately do it," Hermione reasoned.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that they're dangerous and I don't want you to use them again… and I'm not going to learn any of it!" Harry argued.

"Harry, the petrifying and stunning spells are not good enough to fight Death Eaters. They will get revived and keep becoming back for us, which means we'll be fighting the same Death Eaters over and over again if we don't take them out... at least until the fight is over. Besides, they won't hesitate to kill us," Hermione said, looking frustrated.

"It still doesn't justify us stooping to their level and using dark arts!" Harry retorted, feeling as frustrated as she looked because of her stubbornness.

"We're not stooping to their level! Every single spell or curse Death Eaters use is tainted with their malicious intent. They do it the intention of killing, maiming or inflicting pain upon others. The curses and spells I'm using are perhaps dangerous but it is to make sure that your opponent is incapacitated long enough. But if it kills, we can't help it because this is war!" Hermione said passionately.

"War? What're you talking about Hermione?" Harry asked, bewildered but interested by what she accidentally let slip.

"Never mind. I'll tell you when it is time but you must learn those spells to be ready and prepared. Please trust me Harry," Hermione practically pleaded.

Although he was completely surprised by her passionate insistence that they need to resort to the dark arts, he was firm in his decision. "No matter what you said, Hermione, I'm not going to use dark arts and that's my final word!" he said determinedly.

Hermione had a look of defeat on her face. Closing her eyes, she heaved a long sigh but when she opened them, her face became neutral once more and she said, "Very well… since we can't get to an agreement in this matter, next time we'll move on something as important, if not more."

Feeling greatly disturbed that he didn't get a promise from her never to use the dark arts again, Harry observed her for a moment before he finally said, "Okay… what are we going to learn then?"

"Nonverbal spells."

~*~*~

Sitting under their favourite tree by the lake and looking unseeingly at the Weasleys having a snowball fight, Harry was deep in thought.

The subject of his contemplation was his female best friend – Hermione Granger. He was worried about her. Ever since she passed out on the day of the first task, Hermione had somehow changed from how she usually used to be. She was still the most studious and hardworking person he had ever known but she often had this faraway look on her face and her usual enthusiasm in class seemed almost forced. There were times when she looked a hundred years older than her actual fifteen years of age.

Nobody had noticed those inconspicuous changes in her but Harry had. He had known her since they were eleven and she was the type of person to always do things by the book but all of a sudden, she started using dark arts for no reason. Yes, she did talk about ruthless Death Eaters and the war but it had him perplexed for there was no war and the Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup could not possibly be that dangerous without Voldemort leading them.

As ridiculous and weird as it sounded, Harry could not help but come to the conclusion that Hermione was a Seer and that simple deduction explained her actions easily. She could've foreseen Voldemort rising again and the war going on which would clarify why she talked about being ready and prepared. It was funny though that she considered Divination a bogus form of magic and now, she herself was a Seer.

"Harry!?" Hermione's voice jostled him out of his deep musing.

"Huh? Sorry… what did you say?" he asked somewhat sheepishly.

"I said Ginny and I are off to get ready for the ball."

"Okay… but wait a minute, the ball? It's like… three hours away. Why do you need three hours to get ready?" Harry asked.

"Because I'm a girl. See you at the ball, Harry!"

"Tell me who you're going with, Hermione!" Harry yelled after her.

"You'll know in three hours time!" she yelled back before she and Ginny trudged up towards the castle in the snow.

Another thing about Hermione that annoyed him endlessly was her secretiveness about her Yule Ball date. He knew he had taken her for granted and expected her to still be waiting for him when Cho refused him. But he was slightly miffed that she had decided to keep the identity of her date a secret. He could not explain why but he felt a queasy feeling of unease in his stomach when he thought of Hermione with some random guy.

Whack! A snowball hit him in his face and he turned to see Ron, the twins and Lee laughing at him.

"Oi, Harry! What're you sitting there for? Come over and play," Ron yelled cheerfully.

"Alright!" he replied as he stood up to join them.

After an hour of having fun in the snow, they finally made their way to their dormitory, shivering from the wetness. Harry took a warm shower and put on a new pair of jeans and T-shirt as the ball still some time away. He and Ron played a game of chess while sipping the hot chocolate obtained with the help of Dobby.

As the hour of the ball got closer, the two friends finally decided that they should put on their dress robe. Harry donned the green dress robe Mrs. Weasley had bought and tried in vain to make his hair lie flat. Giving up on his stubborn hair, Harry turned to see that Ron had already put on his dress robes on. Luckily for Ron, Hermione had been kind enough to transfigure his lacy robes to a simple yet smart black robe.

"Let's go down, Ron," Harry said before the two of them headed down to the common room. After exchanging pleasantries with Parvati, whom Harry had asked after Hermione pointed out to him, they went down to the Great Hall to meet up with Padma, who was Ron's date.

The Entrance Hall was crowded with milling people and Harry frequently looked over his shoulders to find Hermione. Everyone was looking smart in their dress robes and when his eyes fell on Cho, something stirred inside his chest and he marvelled at how pretty she looked. Quickly averting his eyes, he witnessed the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain Roger Davies nearly drooling at the sight of Fleur Delacour.

Durmstrang students arrived with their Headmaster Karkaroff and Harry fleetingly saw Krum with a beautiful girl he had never seen before. His thoughts wandered back to Hermione, whom he had yet to meet.

"Hi Harry," said the girl who was with Krum. Harry was confused... why would Krum's date say hi to him? Did she know him? The girl smiled brightly at him and it brought up something in his mind. There was something similar about that smile... the smile he could recognize anywhere he saw. Suddenly, realization dawn on him and his jaws dropped as he stared at her.

"H-Hermione?" he asked stupidly.

To say Harry was gobsmacked would be the understatement of the century. Hermione looked absolutely breathtaking in her periwinkle blue dress robe. Her hair was not bushy like usual but sleek and shiny and tied into an elegant knot. She carried herself gracefully and her smile lit up her whole face. She looked- she looked like an entirely different person.

"Champions, quickly line up now!" Professor McGonagall's voice shook him out of his stupor.

They entered the Great Hall, which was beatifically decorated. Harry took a seat beside Percy, who was there instead of Mr. Crouch. While Percy droned on and on about his promotion and Mr. Crouch, Harry's attention was focused on Hermione and Krum.

Hermione smiled widely at something Krum said and Harry frowned, deciding quickly that he disliked the Bulgarian. Krum started talking about Durmstrang and to his dismay, Hermione looked greatly interested. Glancing quickly at Ron, he found him also glaring sullenly at the pair.

"_Hermione should've been here sitting beside me, not with that bloody oaf! Damn it and it's my own fault,_" Harry cursed himself silently.

He didn't know why but the sight of Hermione with another guy made his insides churn. He and Ron had been the only guys in her life before and now suddenly, Krum was there, taking their place. He was busy scowling at them that he didn't realize it was time for the Champions to open the dance until Parvati tugged on his robe.

The dance was awkward to say the least. He kept stepping on Parvati's toes a few times which made her glower at him irritably. Krum, much to Harry's chagrin, was a fairly decent dancer, which made him more sullen than before. When the song finally ended, Harry left the dance floor and joined Ron, who was throwing death glares at the Bulgarian seeker he used to worship. Hermione headed towards them after Krum left for the drinks stand.

~*~*~

Smiling brightly at them, she sat down beside Harry in Parvati's place, who had gone to dance with a boy from Beauxbatons.

"Are you guys having a nice time? Viktor's getting some drinks," she told them.

"Viktor?! You're calling him Viktor now? He hasn't asked you to call him _Vicky _yet, has he?" Ron bit out scornfully.

Hermione frowned at him. Deciding that she didn't want Ron to ruin her night like last time, she kept quiet.

"How could you do this to Harry? Krum is Harry's opponent in the Tournament," Ron continued.

"Yeah, Ron's right! I can't believe your date is a Durmstrang. He's using you to get inside information about me! I thought you'd know," Harry bitterly commented.

Hermione, yet again, was filled with two completely opposite emotions. She didn't know if she should yell at Harry for saying those things to her or if she should feel happy because he was showing obvious signs of jealousy.

She was pleased at the expression on his face when he first saw her. There was a flicker of something on his face, very much like when Harry of the other timeline looked at her lovingly. Throughout the meal and the opening dance, she saw him scowling at her and Viktor and she had to force herself not to jump in joy but she had smiled inwardly at his blatant glaring of Viktor.

Forcing down her urge to hit him on his head for being stupid, she grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.

"What're you doing?" Harry hissed.

"Dance with me," she simply replied.

"I don't want to dance with you! I'm angry at you."

Hermione didn't say anything but wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. She felt him tense but she ignored it and laid her head on his chest, swaying gently to the slow song the Weird Sisters were playing. After some time, Harry relaxed slightly and placed a tentative hand on her waist. Hermione smiled to herself.

"Hermione?" Harry said hesitantly.

"Hmm?" Hermione lifted her head and looked at him, who had a sheepish look on his face.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't know what came over me… I just- I'm sorry. I guess I'm just-"

"Jealous?" she offered.

"I'm not jealous," he replied hotly, his cheeks flushed red.

Hermione raised her eyebrows and gave him an amused look. Harry sighed defeatedly and said in an embarrassed voice, "well… maybe a little."

Chuckling a little, she smiled and replied, "It's okay." They continued dancing and Harry completely relaxed against her, his hands on her waist becoming firm.

"You look very beautiful tonight," he said all of a sudden. "Erm… not that you're not before. It's just that you looked different," he added hastily.

Her cheeks flushed and she coyly replied, "Thank you, Harry. You look very handsome too."

Hermione was so happy at that moment that she could conjure a Patronus that could drive a thousand Dementors away.

The song ended regretfully and when a relatively fast song came, Harry pleaded that he did not want to embarrass himself so they made their way off the dance floor. As they approached the table where Ron was sitting, they found Viktor there, smiling at them.

Hermione had made herself clear to the Durmstrang champion when he asked her that she didn't have any romantic interest in him and that she already liked somebody else. Viktor had looked surprised for a moment but he had been very understanding and friendly ever since.

"Hermy-own-ninny. I brought you a drink," he said as he handed her a glass.

"Thanks Viktor."

Ron scoffed loudly at this and pulled her slightly away from Viktor. "You know, Hermione, you're fraternising with the enemy!" he whispered rather loudly.

"The enemy? You're the one wanting his autograph," Hermione replied, trying to keep herself from yelling at Ron.

"He's a Durmstrang! He's Karkaroff's student! He- He probably is hoping you'll help him figure his egg out!"

"You know I'd never help him solve his egg!" Hermione hissed.

"Yeah Ron, Hermione wouldn't do that," Harry supported her.

"You! Just one dance and you're siding with her!" Ron was now practically yelling at Harry.

"I'm not siding with her! I'm telling the truth. Hermione's our friend… just because she comes to the ball with Krum doesn't mean she'll help him and betray me!" Harry reasoned. Ron made to argue but Hermione cut him off.

"That's enough! Ron, you can think whatever you want but if you really think I'll help Viktor, you don't know me at all. Harry's my best friend and I want him to win," she said in a composed but no non-sense voice. "And Harry, thanks for believing me," she added.

She did not listen to their replies but turned to Viktor, who looked completely confused at their outburst, and said, "Viktor, I'm really really sorry but I'll have to cut our night short. I'm not in the mood for this… frivolity."

"It is okay, Hermy-own-ninny. I had a good time vith you. Other girls vould have made me feel uncomfortable," he replied understandingly as he kissed her hand. "I vill valk you to your dormitory."

"No, no that's fine. I can find my way back. I just need a little air. Thanks for the wonderful time, Viktor," she refused politely.

"Very vell. Good night, Hermy-own-ninny."

"Good night, Viktor." As Viktor went off to find his friends, Hermione made her way out of the Great Hall, feeling somewhat satisfied that she had a dance with Harry and that he had defended her.

"Hermione, wait up!" Harry's voice stopped her in her track.

"Hey. I'm sorry about what Ron said. He's just being a prat," Harry said.

"I know… he's just being his usual self," she agreed. "Say, Harry, do you want to go for a walk outside? It's really suffocating in here and I don't want to go to bed just yet."

He smiled brightly at her and nodded.

"Let's go."

* * *

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	6. Ch5: Nonverbal spellcasting

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 5 - Nonverbal spellcasting  
**

xXXXXXx

The Yule Ball had just ended. Everybody had gone to bed after the enjoyable yet exhausting event, but Harry and Hermione were sitting on the deserted Gryffindor common room couch, staring at a glass jar with a beetle in it.

"Are you absolutely sure this beetle is Rita Skeeter?" Harry asked.

While they were taking their walk outside just now, they had inadvertently eavesdropped on Karkaroff and Snape talking about something getting clearer and Karkaroff fleeing somewhere. But it, of course, was not the event that led to the two of them deciding what to do with a beetle.

After they had overheard Snape and Karkaroff, they again witnessed an embarrassing conversation between Hagrid and Madam Maxine, which was when Hermione conjured a glass jar and put a beetle she had caught somewhere nearby in it. Harry was utterly bewildered why she wanted to catch a beetle at that time but things started to make sense a little when she explained afterwards.

"Yup," Hermione confirmed.

"Okay… if that's the case, what do we do with her?" Harry questioned.

"Give her a warning to stop writing lies and listening in on people's private conversations… and if she does those again, we'll report her to the Ministry," Hermione answered.

"But she should be reported immediately!" Harry exclaimed.

"We can use her to our advantage. Let's say you wanna make a public announcement or something like that, we can ask her to write the article as we want because we have blackmail material on her," Hermione argued.

"But I don't wanna make any announcements!"

"You never know. Maybe you'll need to one day." Harry looked at her weirdly before he nodded his agreement. "_Hermione can be sneaky and cunning when she wants to be_," Harry remarked to himself.

Hermione leaned closer to the glass jar and said in a firm voice, "If you understand me, fly to the lid."

Harry watched the beetle with interest and to his astonishment, it did fly to the lid. "Wow! You were right!" he commented, looking at the beetle in a completely new light now.

"Of course I am," she replied. "Hello, Ms. Skeeter… for a person as smart as you are, I'm sure you've figured it out by now that we know your secret? Tell me Rita, are you aware of the law against unregistered Animagus? Better still, are you aware of the law protecting the privacy of wizards and witches? As you've broken both laws, a double offense such as yours would probably land you in Azkaban for at least a few years, I would say."

The beetle/Rita was perfectly still in the lid and if a beetle could look nervous, it definitely would look like it.

Harry, realizing up what Hermione was doing, added, "Hermione, do you think the punishment would be harsher for harassing the Boy-Who-Lived and his friends?" Although he absolutely hated that title given to him, it was worth it to use it to torment Rita Skeeter.

"Of course! Harassing the Boy-Who-Lived… the wizarding world would be enraged. I think the Ministry will add a few more years in Azkaban to the normal sentence," Hermione acted along, giving Harry an amused smile.

"But… we have another option for you, Rita. I personally think you'll prefer this option. It's quite simple… you go back to work but stop eavesdropping on other people's private conversations and stop writing untruths. Then, we won't report you. What do you think?" Harry said. "If you wish to avoid prison and keep your job, fly up to the lid. If not, we'll assume that you prefer Azkaban."

As soon as Harry finished speaking, the beetle flew up to the lid, eliciting a smirk from both teenagers.

"Well… you made a wise choice. But remember, we'll be watching you closely. A wrong step and you'll be right in Azkaban. Now, I'm sure you can find your way out of Hogwarts?" Hermione said as she took the beetle out of the jar and deposited it on the window sill outside the Gryffindor tower. Rita Skeeter immediately flew off.

"That was fun," Harry commented sarcastically.

"Yeah. She probably was scared out of her life when we mentioned Azkaban!" Hermione agreed and the two of them had a good laugh at Rita Skeeter's expense.

Then Hermione suddenly squealed. "Harry, it's after midnight!"

Harry looked at her with a so-what look before he realized what was happening and said, "It's Christmas! Happy Christmas Hermione!"

"Happy Christmas to you too, Harry," Hermione replied with a smile. "Do you want your present now or in the morning?" she asked.

"Now," Harry answered, grinning.

"Okay. Let me summon it! I'm lazy to go get it from my dorm," Hermione said with a wink as she Accio-ed the present.

"I'll summon yours too!" Harry said excitedly as he too summoned the present he'd bought for Hermione during the last Hogsmeade visit.

Soon, they were sitting face to face holding the present for each other. "Let's open it together! Here is yours," he said, giving her the present while he took the package from her hands.

Harry looked at the present in his hands. It was small and light, completely opposite from what he had expected from Hermione. Knowing her well for so long, he had thought that it would be a large book but apparently it was not. Not wasting another moment guessing what the present was, Harry tore the wrapper open and found a beautiful, black leather-like wand holster.

"Wow! A wand holster!" he said excitedly.

"Do you like it?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah! It looks so cool!"

"I'm afraid you might not like it," she said.

"Are you kidding? This is like the best present I've gotten."

"How about your Firebolt?" Hermione asked teasingly.

"Well… erm- maybe except for my Firebolt."

Hermione laughed and Harry found himself feeling pleased to hear her laughter, but Hermione took the wand holster from his hand and started explaining its uses and properties.

"The holster is very useful when you're physically engaged in a battle and have to draw your wand from your robe. You can just say a preset password and the wand will be released into your hand from the holster. Nobody except you can take it out. Besides, there're anti-summoning charm and other charms to prevent you from accidentally dropping your wand."

"Thanks, Hermione. This is so great. It must be really expensive," he said.

"Well… wand holsters like this are quite rare. Aurors would use them mostly but you're welcome," she replied with a satisfied expression on her face.

"How about my present? Have you opened it?" Harry asked, suddenly worried that she might not like it.

He had gotten her a book, as usual, on complex Arithmancy that he couldn't understand but the salesperson had recommended, but compared to her present, it didn't seem good enough.

"Not yet, but I'm guessing it's a book?" she said it more like a statement than a question. Peeling off the wrapper neatly, Hermione looked at the book in her hands.

"It's not much compared to yours," Harry mumbled awkwardly, waiting for her to say something.

"Nonsense, Harry! This is the book I'd wanted to buy but I didn't have enough money left after buying all the presents for everyone. Thank you so much!" she said with excitement.

"Really? So you don't hate it?" he asked tentatively.

"Harry, since when have I ever hated any books? Besides, this book is what I actually want," she said amusedly, giving Harry a bright smile.

He felt oddly pleased that Hermione found his present satisfactory. Releasing a breath he did not know he was holding, he returned her smile. "I'm glad you like it."

"Of course! I don't know about you but I'm knackered. Let's go to bed."

"Yeah. Good night, Hermione."

"Good night and thanks for the walk outside," she said softly and did something Harry never expected her to do. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him gently on his left cheek before she went up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, leaving a completely speechless Harry behind.

xXXXXXx

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting together in the Room of Requirement the day after the Boxing Day. Hermione was lecturing them about non-verbal spellcasting and the boys were listening to her. Ron had asked them how their training was coming along and was particularly eager to join them when they told him they were going to practise non-verbal magic.

"Non-verbal magic is a difficult thing to master. It's in the sixth year curriculum of Hogwarts but only half of them could actually do it. The key to it is to concentrate because the usual incantations help us focus our magic and make it easier for us, just like wands do. Howver, since you won't be saying any incantations, you need to concentrate and will your magic to do what you want. We'll try the simple ones first," she explained.

"Okay, so what do we do? Just concentrate?" Harry asked.

"Yes, concentrate really hard and on the magic flowing magic within you. If you've mastered non-verbal magic, you're a step closer to wandless magic. Let's start with the levitation charm," she said, pointing at the feathers in front of them. "I'll show you how but it won't help much unless you try it yourself."

She took out her wand (she could finally do simple wandless magic but thought it was not time to let them know yet). Performing the perfect Wingadium Leviosa wand movement, Hermione focused on the feather floating up and true enough, it did float up slowly.

"Wow! That was cool! Now we can silently hex Malfoy and no one would know!" Ron said.

"Ron! You know better than to do that," Hermione chastised. "And remember, non-verbal spellcasting is not as easy as it seems. Okay, enough talking. Why don't you two try?"

The boys took out their wands and performed the wand movement somewhat doubtfully. As Hermione had expected, nothing happened. She doubted even Dumbledore could possibly have done it on his first time.

Harry and Ron looked disappointed. She wondered if they were expecting to be successful on their first try. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she encouraged them, "It's your first try. You won't be able to do it at first but don't worry. Just keep practising."

They looked at her uncertainly but continued to do as she said. After an hour of Harry and Ron waving their wands and staring at the feather (and Hermione encouraging them), it had not even twitched a bit.

"This thing is never gonna work!" Ron said, glaring at the feather as if it was offending him.

"Ron, you just have to be patient-"

"Patient? An hour has passed already in case you haven't noticed! How patient do we have to be?" he said sullenly.

"It takes more than one day to get it right," she said consolingly.

"Whatever… I've had enough for today. I'm going back to the common room. You coming Harry?"

"No. I think I'll try a bit more," Harry answered.

Ron gave him a disbelieving look, silently meaning to say "You're mental" but only muttered something under his breath and went off.

Hermione studied Harry as he continued to wave his wand at the feather. His face was hard in concentration, his brows furrowed and there was a stubborn look in his features.

"Harry?" Hermione called softly, not wanting to startle him from his concentration. "What did you exactly think when you were performing the spell?" she asked.

"The incantation of course," he replied.

"Okay, I've read that it works for some people but for me, I focus more on my intent. I mean, I still think of the incantation but I'm willing the feather to float instead of concentrating on the words. I didn't want to mention it in front of Ron but meditation techniques similar to the ones used in Occlumency will help tremendously," she explained.

They had let Ron know about the physical and magical trainings they were undergoing because they could explain it was for the Tri-Wizard Tournament but Hermione insisted that they kept the Occlumency lessons secret from him. How was she going to explain to Ron when he asked what they were for? After all, she was not willing to share the secret with him… not yet. Ron needed to mature before he could be told such important information.

"How so?" Harry asked.

"In Occlumency, your main focus is your mind and to build walls around it. But here, you are to focus on the magic within you like I've mentioned before. At first you'll have to search for it but it'll come to you naturally with practice."

"Okay… so meditate on my magic within me, focus on the feather floating but only lightly on the incantation. Am I correct?" Harry clarified.

"Yup. Now try again. I know you can do it," she urged on.

Harry had a renewed determination on his face before he stared at the feather and waved his wand for the umpteenth time that night but this time was different from the previous umpteen times because the feather gently rose up.

A smile broke out on his face and became a joyous laugh as he yelled cheerfully, "I did it!"

Hermione joined him in his laughter but said, "Good job Harry! But I don't want you to lose your concentration yet. Make the feather move around in the air."

"But the levitation charm can't make it move around," Harry retorted.

"No, it can't but your magic can. Feel deep down within you, draw from the pool of magic you have and direct it to control the feather to do what you want. Once you have complete control of your magic, you'll realize that incantations are more hindrance than help," she explained.

Harry frowned at her but quickly shifted his attention to the floating feather, which twitched slightly but slowly began to perform a funny tap dance in the air. He smiled broadly, looking pleased with himself.

Hermione, too, was surprised that once he learned how to do it properly, Harry was a real fast learner. It had taken her four days to successfully perform non-verbal magic but of course, Snape had not been that supportive as a teacher. She beamed at him and patted him lightly on his arm.

"That's excellent, Harry. I don't have to teach you anymore on non-verbal magic. It's up to you to practise the harder and more advanced spells. They'll need more concentration at first but you'll manage them. You always do," she said proudly as Harry finally lowered the dancing feather back to the table.

"I can't believe I did it!!" Harry said incredulously. "Don't tell Ron though. I'm afraid he'll get jealous."

Hermione sighed. "Harry, I know something has changed between you two since Ron refused to believe that you didn't put your name in the cup but he needs to know this. Because this'll make him try harder," Hermione reasoned. Harry looked like he wanted to argue but Hermione cut him off before he could.

"It's time for Occlumency. We're going to start a more advanced level of Occlumency today. Usually, you protect your entire mind from invasion but now, you're gonna do it selectively. The walls will only be around those memories you didn't want the other people to see. Other unimportant memories you didn't want to protect will be seen when a Legilimen reads your mind," Hermione started.

Hermione spent the following one hour guiding and explaining Harry how to practise. She was vaguely reminded of the first timeline when Aberforth Dumbledore had helped them complete their Occlumency training. They had managed to practise the basic Occlumency by themselves but as it became harder, they became lost in the profound subject and had inadvertently mentioned their difficulties to Dumbledore's portrait, which suggested them to ask for Aberforth's help.

Utterly exhausted after the non-verbal magic and Occlumency, Harry hungrily drank the Pumpkin Juice the Room had provided him. "I'm dog-tired right now," Harry groaned.

"Once you're proficient in this Occlumency, you're ready to know what I have to tell you. There's one more advanced level than this but you don't need to learn that. It's mostly for spies. C'mon, let's go back to the common room to rest since you're exhausted."

As they walked back to the common room, Hermione earnestly hoped that Harry mastered Occlumency as quickly as possible for she could not keep the secret to herself and carry the burden alone any longer. These past few days after the Yule Ball, Hermione had been cracking her head over what to do about something she had previously overlooked. Seeing Percy at the Ball reminded her that Barty Crouch Sr. had been held under Imperius curse and was going to be murdered by his son. Even though Hermione was no fan of the man, she did not want him to get killed either.

Since she did not want to tell Dumbledore yet and Fudge was a completely useless baboon of a Minister, she had finally come to a decision to write an anonymous letter to Amelia Bones, warning her about Crouch Sr.'s absence from his work and the possible involvement of dark wizards regarding his absence. She hoped Madam Bones would not think of it as a prank.

Biding Harry a good night, she trudged up to her dormitory to get her much need rest.

* * *

Thanks for reading and please review. 


	7. Ch6: Part of the mysteries solved

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 6 - Part of the mysteries solved  
**

xXXXXXx

"_So, your father and I freed him and then rode him to rescue Sirius," Hermione told Ken._

"_Really? That's so cool! How did you do it mum?" he asked excitedly._

"_That's for another day. It's time for you to sleep now, honey," she said as she tucked the blanket around him._

"_But mum, I'm not sleepy yet. Please tell me what happened afterwards… please?" six-year-old Ken pleaded with his mother._

"_Ken, what did I tell you about sleeping when it is your bed-" Hermione didn't finish her sentence as she felt a breach in the wards she and the others had put up._

"_Ken, get up. We have to go now!" she said urgently, flinging the blanket away from her startled son and dragging him out of bed._

"_Mummy, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, picking up on his mother's sudden frantic behaviour._

"_The bad guys are coming to hurt us. We have to go," Hermione explained as she crammed some of her indispensable things into a backpack she had readied for a time like that. Then she quickly picked up her son in her arms and ran out of the tiny room the others had insisted that they took._

"_HERMIONE! KEN!"_

_Fred (or George?) came running to them. "Do you have your Portkey?" he asked._

"_Yeah. Has everyone gone yet?" she asked as she took out her necklace/Portkey out of her shirt to activate it._

"_They should know by now what to do," he said offhandedly as he too made a move to activate his own Portkey. "I'll see you at the check point?"_

_At Hermione's nod, he disappeared as his Portkey carried him away. They had made preparations for what to do when their hideout was discovered and attacked, which had happened a couple of times before. They would Portkey away to a safe check point and regroup there._

_As she was about to activate her Portkey, she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to take the vial of dragon blood she had collected for the Remitto Monumentum potion. Dragon blood was not particularly rare; expensive, yes but not rare. However, for a wanted person like herself, she had risked her life to obtain that small amount of blood that she had now._

_Putting Ken down, she quickly rushed back to the room where she had hidden her ingredients. She snatched the vial of blood and put it in her knapsack, wanting to get out of here before the Death Eaters dismantled all the wards._

"_MUMMY!!" Ken's terrified voice came from the doorway and she turned around to see a Death Eater send a green curse towards him. Hermione knew too well what it was; she lunged for him without much thought but she was too slow... the curse was too fast. Hermione watched with horrified eyes as the curse sped towards her son but before it could hit him, something… or rather somebody pushed him out of the way and took the curse in his stead._

_Her relief at Ken being out of harm's way was short-lived as she recognized the dirty blonde hair of Luna Lovegood. A multitude of emotions attacked her… fear, despair, sadness and mostly guilt. Had she not been selfish... had she not gone back to retrieve the dragon blood, it would not have happened. It was her fault._

"_It's your fault, Mudblood. It's your fault that she is dead. Now your son is gonna die too," cackled a maniacal voice behind the damn mask she hated so much._

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

_For the second time that day, she watched, transfixed, as the green beam hurtled towards Ken._

"_No! KEN! NOOOOO!" she cried as she collapsed on the floor._

"Wake up. Hermione, wake up," somebody said urgently. But she continued to cry, sobs wrecking her body.

"Hermione!!! Wake up. What's wrong?" The voice became more urgent and she felt somebody shake her shoulder.

She opened her eyes; everything came into focus once again and she found herself face to face with an extremely worried Lavender Brown, behind whom stood Parvati Patil with similar worried expression on her face.

"Are you alright? You had us quite worried there for a moment. We were about to go get McGonagall or somebody," Lavender said as Hermione tried to sit up in her bed.

"Yeah. I'm okay now. It was just a bad dream," she answered.

"It must be a really nasty dream then. Are you sure you don't want to see Madam Pomfrey?" Parvati remarked.

"I'm alright now, guys. Thanks," Hermione reassured them with a smile. _"Now I understood how Harry must have felt when he had those awful nightmares,"_ she thought to herself.

"So Hermione," Lavender started, the inquisitive expression she usually had when she gossiped was now on her face. "Who is this Ken person? Your boyfriend?"

"W-what? I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione lied although she was certain the expression on her face was silently shouting 'LIAR!'.

"Aww… come now, Hermione. You were shouting his name in your dream. Or did you mean to say Krum? You can tell us," Parvati added excitedly. Lavender nodded in agreement.

"I told you I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know any Ken and I wasn't dreaming of Krum," she replied curtly, hoping to shut them up.

"Fine," Lavender said as if she were a child denied of her favourite toy. "Let's go back to sleep, Parvati."

Hermione glanced at her bedside table clock, which showed 4:00am. She sighed and decided against going back to sleep since it was only one hour until she and Harry would go for their morning workout.

More than a month had passed since she had gotten those memories and she had been forcing herself not to think too much about them but instead to focus on preparing Harry and handling the current situation. She now realized that it was impossible for her to run away from the horrible parts of those memories.

Thinking back on her nightmare, she felt a pang in her heart when her thoughts rested on the memories of a son she never had. Unlike in her nightmare, she had fortunately acted quickly in the other timeline. She had Accioed Ken before the curse could hit him and Portkeyed away. The night before she took the potion was her last memory of him.

And of course, the nightmare also forced her to think of one other person… Luna.

Despite her weirdness, the Ravenclaw girl was a great help to the light side in the other timeline. Before Luna and George were murdered, she and the twins worked together with Hermione to come up with new spells and inventions. Hermione had grown closer to the younger girl emotionally after Harry had died. She found a much needed female companionship in Luna that she had failed to find in Ginny or any other females she had met before.

It was then that she found out Luna also had a tragic childhood. Her mother had died when she was nine and Luna understood what it felt to lose somebody close to her. Even though he loved his daughter, Mr. Lovegood did not know how to take care of a young daughter after his wife had passed away. Moreover, he was always busy with the Quibbler and failed to spend enough time with Luna.

Hermione swore to get to know the Ravenclaw better for she realized that she had been neglecting her friend.

xXXXXXx

Hermione headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast when she had finished showering and changing into her uniform after their workout.

She saw Harry and Ron already eating and much to her dismay, Lavender and Parvati were there as well. "_Oh darn. Let's hope they didn't tell them about the nightmare_," she groaned but knowing the two gossip queens, she knew she hoped in vain.

"Good morning, Hermione," the two chorused and smiled at her innocently… too innocently. She muttered a 'good morning' before she sat down beside Ron.

"Hermione," Harry said, looking at her curiously, "Parvati and Lavender were telling us that you had a nightmare. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was just a bad dream. Nothing important," Hermione replied as nonchalantly as she could, all the while thinking of different ways to murder her two dorm mates in their sleep.

"How about this Ken guy then?" Ron piped up.

A death glare towards Lavender and Parvati sent them scurrying off away from them. She, however, realized that Harry and Ron were still looking at her questioningly so she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Erm- it was about my parents!"

"Your parents?" the boys asked together.

"Yeah… yeah, the nightmare was about my parents."

"Then who is Ken?" Ron insisted.

"Uh- it- it's my dad's name!" she said. At their suspicious looks, she went on, "it's true. Kenneth is my father's middle name. I don't know why I shouted his middle name in my nightmare but you can't control what happens in your dreams, can you?"

She had not exactly been lying to them because it was partially true. Kenneth indeed was her father's middle name. After Harry was killed, she did not want to be reminded of him by naming her son after him or James. So, she decided to name him after her father. But Ken found other ways to remind her of his father as he grew up.

Ron muttered something about her being mental before he went back to his breakfast but Harry had a thoughtful look on his face, which told Hermione that he was not letting it go as easily as Ron.

Hermione ignored him as she observed the Ravenclaw table for signs of Luna, who was notably absent. Keeping an eye on the Ravenclaw table, she went back to her breakfast but she did not have to wait long before Luna practically floated into the Great Hall with a dreamy expression on her face. Hermione smiled.

"_She's as dreamy as ever,"_ she thought.

It turned out that Hermione did not have a chance to talk to her alone before classes began since Luna ate her breakfast too leisurely for Hermione's patience. She left for Ancient Runes while the boys had their Divination class.

Classes had become easier than ever for her since she had gotten the memories. In the first timeline, she was doiing much harder stuff than fourth year level before she took the potion. After finishing the runic translations in half the time allocated, Hermione sat there, waiting for class to be dismissed, and her mind began to wander.

"_I wonder whether Harry has solved his egg or not,"_ she thought. _"Maybe I should nag him to do it early instead of waiting for Cedric to tip him off. After all, I don't want Dobby stealing from Snape."_

Suddenly, the movements and the sound of her schoolmates around her indicated that class was dismissed.

Quickly gathering her things, she was on her way to the Transfiguration classroom when she ran into Luna, who was surrounded by a group of people who seemed to be… taunting her? If Hermione had not been looking out for the girl, she would have thought it was a group of friends teasing each other.

"Where are your odd necklaces, Loony? Maybe you've gone so loony that even your necklaces couldn't stay put with you!" said a Slytherin boy cruelly as his group of friends laughed at his stupid remark.

Hermione frowned but Luna seemed to be unfazed by it. "I didn't wear them because it is unwise to do so during Nargle mating season," she replied airily to the Slytherin boy, who looked confused by her answer.

"Whatever you say, Loony," he said as his gang laughed and they went off.

"It's not nice of them to be mean to you," Hermione said as she approached her.

"It is quite alright. I do not care about them."

"Why don't you hang around with your housemates? They won't harass you then," advised Hermione.

"My housemates don't really care. They are not much help. Besides, I prefer to be alone during Nargle mating season. Other people's auras prevent me from seeing them," she replied.

Hermione smiled. Oh, how she missed Luna's strange comments and non-existent creatures! "Okay, if that's the case, you shouldn't let what they say get to you. I'm Hermione Granger by the way," she said.

"I know about you. Professor Flitwick praised you often after all. You know, your aura has changed quite recently from what it used to be… not a big difference, but stronger. And Harry Potter's has changed too," she remarked as if commenting on the day's weather.

Hermione stared at her slightly before she laughed a bit. Luna had this special gift of being able to see what other people could not. Auras, of course, could be seen by others but it required training and a fair bit of power to do so but it seemed the talent had come naturally to the blonde Ravenclaw.

"I'm Luna Lovegood."

"It's nice meeting you Luna. Maybe you can join me for lunch some other day… that is, of course, after the Nargle mating season," Hermione said kindly.

"Maybe," was her reply before she smiled at Hermione and walked off rather dreamily.

xXXXXXx

"Harry."

Looking up from his chess game with Ron, he saw that Hermione was ready for their training in the evenings. He glanced at his watch and found that it was one hour earlier than their usual time.

"I'm going to the library first. I need to check out some things. I'll see you at the usual time?" Hermione said.

"Oh… okay then. See you."

"Wait Harry," she said somewhat hesitantly. "I was wondering if you have solved your egg yet?" she asked.

"I'm working on it," he replied a bit defensively, not wanting Hermione to nag him again.

"Well… I thought we should try to figure it out. Why don't you bring it along for the evening?"

"Erm… sure. Are you gonna help me?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Of course. Just bring it along later."

"Okay. I'll see you in an hour." He gave her a big smile before she bounded out of the common room with her huge book bag.

Harry smiled at his friend's enthusiasm about studying and the library before he returned to his game with Ron, who he realized was looking at him somewhat suspiciously. He wondered what Ron wanted but when the redhead did not say anything, the two of them went back to the game.

After he got beaten twice by Ron, he noticed that it was finally time for him to go.

"Hey, I gotta go now. You coming, mate?" Harry said.

"Not today, mate. You heard Hermione. We guys are gonna figure the egg out today, which means she's gonna make you read dozens of books!" Ron replied knowingly.

Harry groaned. "Uhh! You're right! But I guess, I'll still have to solve it later so why not do it now why Hermione's in a good mood to help?"

They both shared a laugh before Harry asked him one last time. "Are you sure you're not coming? We might duel a bit afterwards?"

"It's okay. I'm not really in the mood to duel today. Besides, I finally did the non-verbal levitation! After one whole week!" Ron said happily.

"Good for you. Okay then… I think I better go now," Harry said as he patted Ron's back in congratulation and went off to get his egg before leaving for the room of Requirement.

Harry made his way to the Room of Requirement, thinking of how they could possibly solve the egg. The loud wailing when it was opened did not tell anything at all. "_Nevertheless, I'm glad Hermione has agreed to help me. The girl can always figure things out if she puts her mind to it_." Harry thought of their second year when Hermione had figured out that it was a basilisk.

Thinking about Hermione made him worried about her especially after Lavender and Parvati had told them about her nightmare. If she was indeed a Seer, was she having a vision? Or was the vision she already had haunting her? No matter how much he tried to get her to talk about the nightmare, she always managed to change the topic.

"_I'll try again tonight_," he thought. It was not that he did not have things to worry about himself but he felt much better about the tournament ever since he had started training with Hermione. Besides, the tournament was being overseen by Dumbledore, who would never let his students get hurt.

However, Hermione's behaviour and recent events that took place had him thinking and it was his conclusion that scared him. The weird dream he had during the summer, the prickling of his scar, the Dark Mark during the Quidditch World Cup and the prophecy Trelawney gave last year combined with the intense training Hermione had made him undergo… they all pointed to one thing. Voldemort was going to return. And Hermione knew, which was why she insisted on training him.

He really hoped Hermione would tell him her secret soon for he was going to go nuts trying to figure everything out. He picked up his pace, deciding to confront Hermione about all of this. As he neared the Room of Requirement, he suddenly heard a rather melodious laughter just around the corner, which he immediately recognised as Hermione's.

Wondering what she was laughing about, he smiled and turned the corner but his smile turned into a frown when he caught sight of her. She was standing there, as lovely and vibrant as ever, with a huge smile on her face and beside her was… Krum.

Harry felt something stirred in his stomach… jealousy? He strode purposefully towards them and before he could stop himself, he called to her coldly, "So that's the thing you wanted to check out at the library."

They both turned to him. There was a flash of annoyance on her face but it was gone in a second and replaced by a faked smile. Krum's expression was harder to read but he did not have the usual surly look on his face.

"Harry, Viktor was telling me about his years in Durmstrang," Hermione said as she beckoned him to them.

Harry tried his best to act maturely and not glare at Krum. He really respected him; the guy was a great seeker and already playing for his country even though he was still in school but his obvious interest in Hermione disturbed Harry. Greatly. He felt a bout of jealousy towards Krum but had no idea why.

"_It's probably because I'm so used to Hermione spending most of her time with me, and Ron,_" he tried to reason.

"Harry Potter," Krum greeted him with a nod.

"So, the great Viktor Krum has been telling you about Durmstrang, is he? Is that why you went to the library in the first place?" Harry almost sneered at Krum.

She tugged at his free hand warningly before turning to Krum and said, "Harry and I must go now. We have some things that we need to take care of. It was nice talking to you Viktor."

"It was nice talking to you, too. Ve must do it again," he said.

"Hermione's a very busy person. She doesn't have time for you," Harry snapped.

"Harry!" Hermione glared at him. "We really must go now. Bye, Viktor."

Krum nodded, his gaze then travelling to the golden egg in Harry's hand before he went off in the direction Harry had just come.

Hermione dragged him over to the Room of Requirement and walked three times before it. When a door appeared, she opened it and went in without saying a word to him. Harry knew he was in trouble. Preparing himself to be berated for the way he treated Krum, Harry followed her into the room.

What he saw in the room caught him completely off guard. In front of him was a large Jacuzzi nearly the size of a small swimming pool filled with colourful bubbles. He looked around for Hermione but she was nowhere around. It was then that he noticed a door, which he assumed to be the changing room.

"Hermione? Are you there?" he asked.

"Harry, ask for a swimming trunk from the room and change into it," her voice said.

"Hermione, what are you doing? I thought we're gonna solve the egg."

"The water will help you think things over. Now, change into a pair of shorts before I come out or I won't be responsible for what I accidentally see," she said teasingly.

Harry gulped. What had gotten into Hermione? He had not expected her to conjure a hot tub in the room and he also had not expected her to be teasing him. He had thought she would scold him about his behaviour towards Krum.

"Done yet?" she asked.

"Uh- just one moment," he said before he concentrated on wanting a swimming trunk, which appeared in front of him. He quickly wore the black shorts after taking off his school robes and the underlying clothes. Not wanting to wait for Hermione to come out, he jumped into the tub and immersed himself completely in it.

"I'm already in the-" Harry's words caught in his throat as he saw Hermione come out of the changing room.

She was wearing a forest green bikini that covered so little of her and showed her curves and other feminine attributes which the usually loose Hogwarts robes had been hiding. Although she was not overly-endowed, Harry thought it suited her petite body well. His best friend had grown quite a bit without him realizing it.

"Like something you see?" Hermione teased.

Harry did not realize he had been staring at her and quickly averted his gaze, his face turning so red that it could rival any angry Weasleys.

"Uh- I- I didn't mean to- to erm… stare," he stuttered.

Hermione chuckled and joined him in the water. _"The little minx is enjoying my embarrassment," _he thought.

Wanting to change the subject away from his embarrassment, he cleared his throat and chanced a look at her. She was shoulder-deep in the water, which caused him to sigh in relief and yet a small part of him felt a bit disappointed. Harry squashed that part to the back of his mind and handled the current situation.

"Erm… so have you got any idea how to solve the egg? Whenever I open it, there's this screeching sound," he asked.

"Oh no, Mr. Potter, not yet. You are going to tell me why you acted so uncivilly towards Viktor. The whole purpose of the tournament is to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the three schools, not to fight against each other."

"I just don't like him being with you," he grumbled.

"Why?"

"I just- I just don't like him!"

Maybe he was imagining thing but he swore Hermione had a smug look on her face before she turned serious and moved closer to him.

"Harry, look at me. No matter what my relationship with Viktor is, or with anybody else for that matter, I want you to know that you're my best friend… my very first friend. I will always be by your side no matter what… even if you don't want me to. You can trust me on that, okay?"

He was so utterly touched by Hermione's declaration that he could practically feel his heart skip a beat. Ron and Hermione had been his best friends since his first year but there never were such moments where either of them openly declared their friendship to him with such loyal devotion. They all knew it in their hearts but had never come right out to say it and Harry was more than just a little surprised. He realized, hopefully not too late, that he had been taking Hermione for granted. His and Ron's treatment of her last year entered his mind and he felt horribly guilty that he was such a prat to her over a broom while she obviously was scared for his safety.

"Harry?" Hermione gently touched his shoulder.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry," he said contritely.

Her face became marred with confusion before she asked, "What are you sorry for?"

"For taking you for granted. For treating you horribly last year. For not being as good friend as you're to me," he said apologetically.

Harry was startled when Hermione mumbled an "Oh Harry" and threw herself into his arms, sniffing slightly and hugging him tightly. He patted her back awkwardly on instinct but his teenage body suddenly realized that he was pressed tightly into a wet, nearly naked body of a girl.

He yelped and jumped back from Hermione as if he was burned, his face as red as a tomato. Hermione at first looked confused before realization dawned on her. She giggled slightly but when she spoke her voice wasn't teasing at all.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that but I never really expect to hear such words from you."

"I'm so sorry, Hermione, about last year. I really acted like a jerk. You were worried about my safety while I only thought about myself. And you were right to be worried. If Sirius really had been a murderer, I would be dead if you hadn't informed McGonagall about it. I didn't even thank you," he finished remorsefully.

"Oh Harry, I'm so glad to hear you say those words but really, it's okay. I didn't hold a grudge against you. I know how much you like Quidditch and then, you received this really wonderful gift. Considering your history with the Dursleys, it's quite understandable. But to admit the truth, I was quite hurt when it happened but I'm over it now," she finished with a slight teary smile.

"Thanks Hermione. You're the best one could possibly hope for in a friend."

"You saved my life too… even when you didn't like me back then," she said. "Okay, enough of this before I get too emotional to think!"

Chuckling lightly, Harry took his egg from the edge of the tub and as soon as he opened it, a loud screeching sound filled the room, forcing him to quickly close it again.

"Okay, so any idea on what this sound might be?" Harry looked at his companion.

"I'm not sure. That's why we're here to figure it out, isn't it?" The two of them sat there, thinking what the sound might possibly mean.

"Do you know anything or any creatures that make the same sound like that?" he asked. "Or is it… a different language?" he suggested.

Hermione suddenly had a gleam in her eyes and told him, "You may be right. You know, I didn't ask the room for the tub. I asked for a place where we can solve your egg."

"So, you're trying to tell me that the room thinks the right environment is for us to take a dip in the water? I don't think it is helping."

"Think Harry. Out of all different places it could have offered, why do you think a tub of water is the right place to figure the egg out?" she asked.

Harry frowned. Hermione was speaking as if she already knew the answer but was guiding him towards it. Why did they need water to solve it? How would he know why the room thought so? But it was the Room of Requirement, which meant that water was required to figure the egg out… and not just water. It was a huge tub of water, where you can take a dip in and-

"Hermione! What do you think of putting it in the water?" he asked excited.

"It might work! Let's try it," Hermione replied with as much enthusiasm.

They both took a deep breath and ducked their heads into the water, with Harry opening the egg in it. A melodious music floated to their ears.

_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground._

_And while you're searching, ponder this,_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss._

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_To recover what we took._

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back._

_JKRowling, GoF_

They both came up from the water as the song ended. Harry looked at Hermione as she brushed her wet hair back with her hand.

"Merpeople?" he asked. Hermione nodded.

"They'll take what I sorely miss and I'll have one hour to look for it?" Again, Hermione nodded with a proud look and bright smile on her face, which made his heart skip a beat.

"Okay, so our problem now is to find a way to stay underwater for one hour," she stated.

"Any idea how?"

She frowned and looked deep in thought but finally started to explain, "Well, you can use two ways. One is an advanced charm – the Bubblehead Charm – which will form a bubble of air around of your head, allowing you to breath underwater. The second is by using a magical plant – gillyweed – which will give you gills and webbed appendages. I suggest you use gillyweed since you'll have the advantage of being able to swim faster."

Harry grinned. It was great to have Hermione as a friend because she had a vast knowledge of almost everything. "Where do you think we can get this gillyweed? Do you think we can ask from the room?" Harry wondered.

"I think we can," she said just as a jar of slimy mass appeared. "Oh, look! Here it is… gillyweed."

"Let's try it!" he suggested eagerly.

"Harry, as much as I'd like us to try the gillyweed today, we should wait until tomorrow. We've been in the water for quite some time and if we use gillyweed now, we'll have to stay underwater for one more hour. And I really don't want to get all wrinkly," she replied, amused at Harry's eagerness.

"How about we take only a little bit? We don't have to stay for an hour then?" he tried to persuade her.

"You can go ahead but I'm getting out of the water now. I'll wait for you if you wanna do it."

"You're no fun, you know that," Harry teased her. "Alright, let's get out of the water then."

Harry was once again treated to the wonderful sight of Hermione's body but he was more in control of himself this time. Grabbing a towel the room had provided, he got out of the water and dried himself. At the corner of his eyes, he noticed Hermione checking out his body and decided to tease her just like she had.

"Like something you see?"

She coloured slightly but took it in stride. "Oh yes. You have one fine arse, Potter!"

"Hermione!!!" Harry said, scandalized that his bookworm friend would say such things but she just smirked at him. "_It seems Hermione has a fun-loving, playful side to her,_" he thought as she went into the changing room.

After changing back into his robes, he sat down in one of the chairs, waiting for Hermione. He had not thought solving the egg would be such fun. Besides, he felt so much closer to Hermione after their heartfelt conversation. He wondered how he could be so thick that he did not realize what a great friend Hermione had been, especially at the beginning of the tournament. She had believed him when nobody else, not even Ron, had.

"Harry, do you want to practise spells now?" Hermione asked as she came out the room.

"Let's skip for today. I don't really feel like doing it."

Hermione looked thoughtful for awhile but she finally relented, "Okay. How about Occlumency then? It is crucial that you practise."

The subject of Occlumency reminded him of what he wanted to talk to Hermione. Should he talk to her now or maybe some time later? "_No, talk to her now before I go crazy trying to work out what's going on with her,_" he decided in his mind.

"Hermione," he began hesitantly, "I know… about your secret."

The look on her face was pure shock and disbelief. She was speechless for awhile but recovered slightly and sputtered a weak, "W-what?"

"You're a Seer, aren't you?" he asked.

"A- a Seer?" she repeated. At Harry's nod, the tension in her face slowly drained as she took control of herself again and this time, asked coherently, "What makes you think that I'm a Seer?"

Harry went on to explain all his reasons and conclusions while Hermione listened to him attentively and when he finally finished, she had a slight smile on her face.

"Harry," she started, "I'm quite proud of you, you know. You've matured quite nicely." Harry blushed slightly but she continued. "What you said is close but it is not correct. It is true that I have information about the future but I am definitely _not_ a Seer."

"If you're not a Seer, then how? Please tell me Hermione! I'm worried about you. You started using dark arts... you don't pay as much attention in class as you used to… nobody really notices but I do. Then you talk about Death Eaters… not to mention, your weird nightmare. Please? Tell me?" he pleaded, trying his best to look persuasive.

"Harry, when did you learn how to look at people like that? How am I supposed to refuse when you're looking so pitiful?" she sighed, looking at him.

"Then tell me. Please?"

Sighing again, she looked deep in thought for some time and then, looked at him as if she was judging him. He was busy looking at her face that he did not notice her wand flicking and suddenly, he felt her presence in his mind. It was not like the last time she tested him. She attacked him unmercifully this time but he forced his shields to hold. He was beginning to have a ringing headache as if someone was using a battering ram inside his mind. Throwing more of his magic to his shields, Harry tried his best to hold her attack. He did not know how long it had been… it could have been hours… when his walls finally crumbled and the flash of memories began, but Hermione withdrew just as it started.

He found himself on the couch that he was sitting, staring at her, gasping and drenched in his sweat. Hermione immediately rushed to his side and forced a piece of chocolate into his hands.

"What- what did you do that for?" he gasped.

"I'm sorry Harry but I had to know if you can protect the information. Eat the chocolate… it helps even if it's not a Dementor," she explained as she wiped the sweat on his forehead with a cool towel.

"How're you feeling now?" she asked as she returned to her seat.

"Better. So, what's your verdict? Can you tell me now?" he muttered unhappily.

"I guess I can tell you some of it. Your shields are not perfect yet but there's no immediate danger of somebody breaking them."

"Except you."

"Oh Harry, I'm really sorry. I didn't want to do it too." Harry gave her a disgruntled look but did not say anything.

"Okay… as I was saying, you're correct in assuming that I somehow know the future but I am not a Seer. What really happened is that twenty years into the future, I would take a potion called the Remitto Monumentum potion. What it does is that it sends the memories my future self possesses at that time into my body of this time, which would explain why I know what is going to happen."

Harry could hardly believe his ears. "_There couldn't be such a potion like that, could there?_" he thought to himself. But Hermione did not look like she was pulling his leg… she would not especially after all the efforts she made teaching him Occlumency and testing his shields.

He sighed. "You're serious, aren't you?" Hermione nodded.

"What made you… or your future self do that?" he asked.

Hermione heaved a long sigh and she suddenly looked like she had grown twenty years within the second that she heard his question. "Again, you're right in your conclusion that Voldemort returns to his body. In fact, it will happen at the end of this school year. More of that later, but what happened… or is going to happen is that we lost the war. Voldemort won and the light side was reduced to fleeing and hiding in deserted places. We had no hope at all to win and there was nothing I could do except to send my memories back and hope that the advance knowledge will somehow help."

"Is it really that bad? How about Dumbledore? Did he do anything?" Harry asked.

"Harry… Dumbledore… he was- will be murdered at the end of our sixth year… my tenses are all mixed up! Oh never mind them," Hermione said sadly, trying to hold back her emotions.

"WHAT?!! Dumbledore?! It can't be!"

"It has happened in the other timeline and it will happen again, if we don't do anything. I am here to change a lot of things, Harry. Do you remember what I told you about meddling with time? Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. I can't let certain things happen again. I won't let it!" she said emotionally.

Dumbledore was going to be killed… two years from now. The fact sounded so… unreal. Dumbledore was like this… infallible, almighty wizard but he was going to be murdered. Harry did not know how to take this information. Everything sounded so surreal but one look at Hermione told him that she was telling the truth.

And then he realized how she must be feeling. If Dumbledore was dead and Hermione resorted to such desperate measures, the situations could not be good. How many had died? How many had been her close friends? She had hugged him and Ron so tightly and was unnaturally happy to see them after she had woken up the day after the first task. Did it mean the two of them die too?

He moved over to her chair, knelt in front of her and took her hands. "Hermione, I'm so sorry," he spoke softly.

"Oh Harry," was all she could say before she launched herself his arms and broke down crying. Harry held her and patted her back while she sobbed into his chest.

He whispered words of comfort to her. "It's okay, Hermione. We'll prevent what is going to happen. I'll help you with it."

It was not awkward or uncomfortable for him to sit on the floor of the Room of Requirement, holding a crying Hermione and comforting her. It even seemed almost natural. He glanced around and realized that the Room had changed itself to resemble to Gryffindor common room. Finally, her sobs subsided and Hermione moved out of his arms; a slight feeling of loss came over him but he ignored it.

"I'm sorry. I cried all over your shirt," she said sheepishly as she dubbed at her eyes.

"It's okay. Are you feeling better now?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay now."

"Hermione, you need to tell Dumbledore about it. It's important!"

"No, Harry. Dumbledore had done some things that make me suspicious of him." At Harry's incredulous look, she continued, "He's not a dark wizard and he's on the light side but his methods might not be all innocent."

"But what could Dumbledore have done to make you not trust him?" he asked.

"I can't tell you now, Harry. The rest of the information is extremely important. It is crucial to the outcome of the upcoming war and I'm not gonna tell you until you've perfected your secondary shields. At this moment, you have to trust my judgement. But after I've told you, you can decide if you want to tell Dumbledore everything or not."

"I guess I have no reason to doubt your judgement, have I?" Harry said, smiling slightly, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Is there anything else you can tell me now? How about Ron and me? What is gonna happen to us?"

"All of us play vital roles in the war. I really can't tell you now. There is one more depressing piece of information I can tell you… that is if you want to hear," she said.

"What is it?"

"Cedric is going to be killed at the end of this year."

"Not another death!" he moaned, beginning to understand why Hermione had wanted them to train so hard.

"We'll stop it, Harry. Like you said, we're gonna do it together," she consoled him.

"Yeah."

"Well, let's call it a day. Both of us very emotionally drained right now."

"You're right. It still sounds unbelievable," Harry agreed.

"Don't forget to practise your Occlumency tonight though. Your shields are weaker when you're emotionally distraught and have too much to think about. Meditate on it."

"I will. C'mon, let's go back to the dormitories," Harry said as the two of them left the Room of Requirement with different thoughts on their minds.

* * *

A/N: I'm not so sure how to write Luna but I really hope I did justice to her for she is a wonderful character, in my opinion. Anyway, thank you for reading. Review please. 


	8. Ch7: A dip in the Lake

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, WarnerBros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 7 - A dip in the Lake  
**

xXXXXXx

Hermione made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast, thinking of Harry's reaction to what she had disclosed to him a few days earlier. As she had expected, he handled the situation well and responded quite maturely, but what really surprised her was the sheer determination he showed in their training after he had learned part of the truth.

The only person who was more determined was his old self in the previous timeline, after Dumbledore was murdered. To be honest, she hadn't expected him to become more focused in their training than before since Harry of the other timeline didn't really make an effort to train himself and face his destiny even after Sirius's death and Dumbledore's revelation of the prophecy.

So she had assumed that this Harry would be the same and that she would have to nag him to train hard. She was wrong, of course, and it was the one of those rare incidences where she was glad to be wrong.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts as she reached the Entrance Hall and saw Luna walking dreamily from the opposite direction, wearing her butterbeer cork necklace and radish ear rings, her wand behind her right ear.

"Hello Luna," Hermione greeted.

"Hello Hermione," she replied.

"I see the Nargle mating season was finished?"

"Oh yes, I was disappointed that it was so short this time compared to previous years."

Hermione nodded. "Well… since it was finished, what do you say to sitting with me at the Gryffindor table today?"

"The scorminths usually stay at the Gryffindor table during breakfast. I would like to have a closer look at them," Luna replied. Hermione smiled at Luna's way of agreeing and led her over to the Gryffindor table where Harry and Ron were sitting.

"Good morning boys," Hermione greeted them as she and Luna sat down across Harry and Ron.

"Good morning Hermione," Harry replied but Ron was too busy eating his breakfast greedily to reply. "And may I ask who this is?" Harry continued.

"Oh, this is Luna Lovegood – Ravenclaw third year. She's a friend of mine," she introduced her to them. Turning back to Luna, she said, "Well, this is Harry Potter. I'm sure you already know. And this is Ron Weasley."

"Yes, I know Ronald," Luna said.

Ron, having finally swallowed his food, looked surprised that she knew who he was. He looked at her funnily and said, "Really? How did you know me? Because I don't really know you."

"I'm your neighbour."

"Neighbour? What do you mea- Oh! The Lovegoods! You live in St. Ottery Catchpole too, don't you? No wonder you look so familiar," Ron said.

"How did you know Hermione here by the way? Are you allowed to sit here? Isn't it against the rules or something?"

"No, Ron, there's no rule stating that students cannot sit at other house tables aside from their own. Besides, I personally think there should be more house unity," Hermione explained.

"Oh, please! The next day you're gonna bring the Slytherins to sit here!" Ron exclaimed.

"Many of the Slytherins are infected by the Wrackspurt, you know," Luna commented. Harry and Ron looked at her weirdly but kept quiet since they didn't know what to say.

Just as Ron was about to say something back to Luna, a delivery owl swept past and dropped the Daily Prophet in front of Hermione. After paying the owl and feeding it a piece of her toast, she took a look at the newspaper, tuning out the conversation about some mythical creatures that Ron and Luna were having. Her eyes widened slightly in recognition at one of the news in the front page.

"Anything interesting, Hermione?" Harry asked, noticing her expression.

"Yes, actually. Here it is," she said as she proceeded to read out.

_**MINISTRY OFFICIAL HELD CAPTIVE IN HIS OWN HOUSE BY MEANS OF UNFORGIVABLE CURSES**_

_Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, who was best known for his authorization of Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses against You-Know-Who's supporters, was found as a captive in his own household nine days ago._

"_Mr. Crouch showed symptoms of repeated exposure to the Imperius and the Cruciatus curse at least for a period of one month," the Auror in charge of the case, Mr. Kingsley Shacklebolt told the Daily Prophet. When asked about the person responsible for this crime, Mr. Shacklebolt refused and said it was confidential but we, the Daily Prophet, think the Auror Department has yet to find the culprit._

"_We want to make sure everything was investigated before we let the public know," Shacklebolt said when questioned why the news wasn't released immediately after Crouch was found._

_Crouch's personal assistant, Mr. Percival Weasley, confessed that Crouch hadn't come to work since December but sent his orders by owl because he wasn't feeling well. Weasley said he "couldn't believe someone could do such things to Mr. Crouch, who was a very respectable person."_

_Mr. Crouch is now admitted to the St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and is receiving appropriate treatment._

"Well, Percy must be completely heartbroken to hear the news," Harry remarked. Hermione couldn't help but nod in agreement with him.

"What about Percy?" Ron asked, having finally finished his conversation with Luna. Hermione proceeded to tell him about what happened to Mr. Crouch.

"Do you think the Aurors really don't know who is behind this?" Harry asked while at the same time sending her a 'do-you-know-about-it?' look when Ron and Luna weren't looking. Hermione smiled and mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

"Even if they don't know now, I'm sure they'll find out soon. I mean, Mr. Crouch can tell them, can't he?" Ron said.

"I won't be so sure about that. You don't know how much he had been tortured under the Cruciatus Curse. He can lose his mind if the exposure is too much," Hermione explained.

"I wonder if Percy is going to be the judge in his place for the Triwizard tournament," Harry said.

"Maybe… Percy is his assistant after all," Hermione agreed.

"We'll have to wait and see, won't we?" Ron said.

"Well, we have class in half an hour so let's get going," Hermione said, looking at her watch. "It's really nice to have you here, Luna. Maybe we should do it again some other time," she said to Luna.

Ron grunted at Hermione's last comment but Luna seemed oblivious to it. Picking up her bag, she said goodbye to all of them and went out of the Great Hall.

"The girl is a weirdo, I tell you. I don't understand what she is talking about half of the time!" Ron exclaimed once Luna was out of earshot.

"Ron! Be nice!" Hermione scolded.

"But it's true! I don't know how you get to know her. The two of you are completely… opposite of each other," Ron said. Harry chuckled in agreement.

Hermione rolled her eyes but didn't say anything as they headed to their Charms class.

xXXXXXx

Harry looked at the finished potion in his cauldron. The colour was pale pink and looked like what was described in the textbook but his concoction was thicker than it should be. Glancing at his friends', he saw that Hermione's was perfect as usual whereas Ron's potion was dark green and releasing a foul smell.

"This should do," Harry muttered to himself.

He poured some of the potion into a vial and handed it to Snape, who looked at his potion and frowned. A sneer appeared on his face and he said, "Granger's been helping you, hasn't she? Twenty points off Gryffindor for not doing your work on your own!"

The Slytherins laughed at that. "Potter can't do anything without the Mudblood, can you Potter?" Malfoy taunted.

The urge to retort was overwhelming and Harry could feel the rage boiling inside him but he bit back his anger. He was not going to get himself a detention by saying something back to Snape or Malfoy. He had more important things to do instead of wasting his time in detention, which was why he tried to brew the correct potion as best as he could so that Snape could not find fault with it. But it seemed like Snape could still do so.

The Slytherins looked slightly surprised and confused at his lack of reaction. Before they could say anything else, Ron and Hermione came beside him. They quickly handed their potions in and Hermione grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the dungeons.

"Oh Harry! I'm so glad you didn't rise to their taunts. We shouldn't let them know that their insults are getting to us," she gushed as she beamed at him happily.

Harry smiled back, glad that she was pleased with his actions.

"Ah, this is coming from a person who punched Malfoy last year!" Ron said sarcastically.

"This was a completely different issue! That was justice served for Hagrid and Buckbeak!" she replied hotly.

Harry tuned out their usual infamous squabble. To be honest, he was quite amazed at himself for being able to restrain from getting into trouble with Malfoy. But he was a man on a mission. He had enough motivation to keep himself in line and the motivation was Hermione, or more specifically, the secrets that Hermione had partially revealed to him a few days ago.

He was scared. He would admit it. The mere fact that the other Hermione had used the potion to send her memories back to change the events in the past was enough to have him terrified… because he knew Hermione and she was a very strong and spirited person, not easily giving up no matter how horrible the situation might be. Things must be completely devastating or she wouldn't have done it.

And then, there was the fact that Dumbledore was murdered. In his eyes, Dumbledore had always been an almighty figure, who held the solutions to all kinds of problems. Even Voldemort was somewhat afraid of him, for God's sake! It was very shocking to find out that this seemingly omnipotent wizard was indeed dead.

Those two simple facts indicated the seriousness of the circumstances which might conspire against the light side in the near future and it made Harry determined. He was going to practise harder in both Occlumency and whatever trainings Hermione came up with. He was going to assist Hermione in preventing things from getting out of hand so that her future self's efforts were not in vain, especially since she was training him selectively. His mind came to a conclusion that he probably might play some roles in the events of the future.

However, what had actually confused him was why Hermione thought Dumbledore could not be trusted with the information she had. He mentally put it to the list of things he would finally find out when he was proficient enough in Occlumency.

They were about to enter the Great Hall when somebody called his name. Turning around, Harry saw Cedric coming up to them.

"Hey Harry! Can I have a word with you?" the Hufflepuff asked.

"Sure," Harry replied but Cedric looked uncomfortably at Ron and Hermione, clearly not wanting to speak in front of them. Hermione, as observant as always, grabbed Ron's arm and took off to the Great Hall but not before muttering, "I'll see you later."

"I've wanted to speak to you for some time now but you were always with your friends," Cedric started. "Anyway, the thing is… I never really thanked you for tipping me off about the dragons so I thought I will return the favour-"

"Wait a minute, I didn't tell you about the dragons because I want something in return. I told you because I want it to be fair… and if you returning the favour is about the golden egg, then don't worry about me. I've solved mine."

Cedric looked surprised at that. "Oh. Well… then- erm-"

"Look, you don't owe me anything just because I told you about the dragons. So, let's forget about it okay?"

The older boy looked at him for a moment, his expression unreadable, but finally said, "I might have misjudged you, Potter."

Harry merely smiled at him and went off to join his friend in the Gryffindor table for dinner.

"What did he want with you?" Ron asked.

"He just wanted to talk about the tournament," Harry replied vaguely. Ron didn't comment further but returned to his meal with much gusto. After being thoroughly watered and fed, Harry and Hermione headed for the Room of Requirement while Ron begged off to go with them, saying he needed to complete his Transfiguration essay.

"What are we gonna do today?" Harry asked as they got inside the Room of Requirement.

"We've advanced quite far in defence spells and other curses. I'm thinking of practising non-verbal spellcasting since you're gonna need it for the second task. How is your non-verbal spells coming along?" Hermione said.

"They're okay but I need to concentrate for a long time for the harder spells. I guess it won't be much help if it takes so long, huh?" Harry replied.

"No, you must be able to cast non-verbal spells just as quickly as you would do so for normal ones. Okay, so we're going to practise them more today but before we start, how about your Occlumency?"

"What about my Occlumency?"

"Are the shields getting stronger? Can you shield your memories selectively yet?" Hermione questioned.

"I'm doing fine. After all, we do meditate every night after training," Harry answered.

"Good because we won't be meditating tonight," Hermione stated.

Harry frowned at her questioningly. "Then what are we gonna do?"

"You'll know when it's time," she replied smugly.

"I'm not gonna like it, am I?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry. It's nothing bad. I promise you'll even enjoy it. It is to help you in your second task," she ensured him. Harry whined, begged, threatened her to tell him what it was but when Hermione didn't bulge, he gave up and started practising his non-verbal spells vigorously.

Half an hour into the training, Harry still had to concentrate for long moments to cast silent spell and Hermione finally suggested they tried duelling using silent spells so that due to his adrenaline rush, he would be able to cast it quickly.

Soon they were duelling intensely and Harry wondered how it would help him fire silent spells quickly because all he had been doing since they started their duel was dodging Hermione's never-ending hexes and jinxes since he was not quick enough counter attack or block them non-verbally.

Harry rolled to his left as another orange flash of spell hurtled towards him at an alarming speed. Quickly glancing at Hermione, he saw that her face was fierce and yet emotionless. He sighed wondering if this was going to work or not but concentrated to send a stunner Hermione's way but the barrage of spells Hermione bombarded him with broke his concentration.

"You're never gonna get it, are you?" Hermione sneered at him. "No wonder everyone supports Cedric. Hogwarts will lose with you as its champion!"

Hurt, betrayal and anger flooded his emotions as he watched the condescending look on her face. Hermione, who had believed him when the whole school turned their backs on him, now thought he couldn't do it? She thought Cedric was better… she thought he was useless…

As a torrent of mixed emotions overflowed him like a heavy downpour, he could feel the magic surging in his veins. It flowed through him like a dam broken and before he had realized what happened, he had sent Hermione flying through the air with a wave of his wand. She hit the wall hard and fell on the floor in a heap, breaking him out of his trance-like state.

"Oh god! What have I done?" he whispered to himself and rushed to Hermione's side, horrified at what he had done.

Gathering her limp figure into his arms, he shook her shoulders forcefully, saying, "Hermione, wake up! Wake up! Please! I'm sorry!" He remembered then that he was holding his wand and quickly revived her. "Rennervate!"

A groan came out of her lips and she shifted a little before fluttering her eyes open. "Oww… my back hurts," she mumbled as she struggled out of Harry's hold.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry! I didn't know what happened! Come, let me take you to Madam Pomfrey," Harry said sheepishly as he helped her up.

"I don't need to go to the Hospital wing. I'm alright… just a bit of pain won't kill me," Hermione protested as they made their way to the couch the room had supplied.

"A brilliant display of non-verbal stunner by the way," she added.

"I'm really sorry for what I did. I didn't know what came over me… but you did make me so angry and hurt… and I don't know. I'm just sorry," he apologized although he also wanted to ask why she was so cruel to him suddenly.

"Don't be. I deliberately made you angry so that you would accidentally release your magic although I really didn't expect such a massive release of magic on your part," Hermione chuckled.

Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to say something but nothing came out. He finally half-protested, "Hermione!!!"

Letting out a small laugh at him, she replied, "what?"

He could never in a lifetime imagine Hermione acting so freely and spontaneously for she had been one to stick to the conventional ways in the books and plan her every step in whatever she did. But she had. She had acted in a way that really surprised him. Then he reminded himself that even though Hermione was still his best friend, she had changed. Twenty years worth of future memories would do that to anyone; not that he was complaining. He liked the new carefree Hermione just as much as he liked her old self.

"Alright, now can you tell me what we're gonna do for the rest of the evening?" he asked.

"Oh, that! Well, let's get some gillyweed before we do anything," she commented before frowning in concentration, undoubtedly asking the room for what she needed.

"Gillyweed? But we've already tried it the other night," he remarked.

"Yup but now, we're gonna do it in a real environment," she answered happily with a teasing twinkle in her eyes.

"Real environment? What we did was real enough- wait a minute! Don't tell me we're going into the Lake!" Harry said as realization dawned on him.

"That's exactly what we're doing! You need to familiarize yourself with it. Besides, it'll be fun!" She had a wide smile on her face as she gathered her stuff energetically and prepared to leave.

Looking at her exuberance, Harry chuckled. "You really have changed, you know," he said, smiling, as he too collected his things.

"The memories made me realize that there're a lot of things in life I've been missing," she answered mysteriously as they left the Room of Requirement.

"We're gonna need your Invisibility Cloak for this," Hermione said. Harry nodded and they headed towards the common room to retrieve the cloak.

Harry observed her face subtly as they walked. "So Hermione, how are the rest of the memories like? You don't have to tell me the sensitive details yet… just some mundane things, you know… like- like who won the Quidditch Cup and stuff like that."

Hermione laughed and he found himself staring as her face lit up with a gentle smile. "_She's quite pretty in her own way_," he thought before he realized that Hermione was saying something to him.

"…supposed to remember that," she finished, still smiling at him.

"Oh- erm… okay," he said, hoping that she didn't catch him not listening to her.

"But seriously speaking, the way the future unfolds itself is a very complex thing, which is why we need to tread carefully. When I am about to change something, I have to think long and hard before I do it so that the future would not become completely unrecognizable compared to the memories. But I still have to let some things happen even though I don't like them because my memories would be useless if the events are totally different."

"Alright, but I have a few things to ask you. Do you know about what happened to Mr. Crouch? And I still don't understand why you refused to tell Dumbledore about it? I mean about your memories," Harry questioned.

"I've already told you... Dumbledore might not be as trustworthy as he might seem because some of his actions are questionable," she answered.

"You said he's not a dark wizard. Then, why are we hiding everything from him?"

"I can't imagine Dumbledore being a dark wizard. What I fear is that he might have his own agenda for doing some things and might not have your best interest at heart."

Harry's face clearly conveyed the confusion he was feeling, "how is that?" he asked.

"Again, I'm really sorry but I can only tell you when you complete the second stage of your Occlumency. The same goes for Mr. Crouch. I know about it and I alerted Madam Bones. How and why? You'll have to wait."

He nodded, knowing he wouldn't get anything more out of Hermione tonight.

They put their things in the common room, took Harry's cloak and headed discretely for the Lake. Once there, Hermione transfigured their robes to appropriate swim wear and after casting a warming spell on themselves and eating the gillyweed, they were in the Lake.

The light from their wand tips guided them as they swam their way to the merpeople village. Half way through their swim, they were intercepted by grindylows but Harry was prepared. He remembered clearly how it had felt when he let his magic flow through him when they were in the Room of Requirement. He let it flow through him again and this time, it came easier.

With a wave of his wand, a spark erupted from his wand, cut through the mass of water and hit the green creature, which was thrown several feet backwards. They quickly subdued the water demons and swam away before more of them attacked. Finally, they came to a stop as they reached the edge of the merpeople village. After observing the surroundings for a few moments, they decided to resurface.

Waiting in the shallower part of the Lake for the effects of gillyweed to subside, they ended up having a tickle fight in the water after Hermione started tickling Harry out of boredom. When the gillyweed stopped working, they got out of the Lake, dried themselves and transfigured their clothes back before heading back to the Gryffindor dormitory.

"You know, Harry, I'm very glad your powers have amplified since we started our training. An average wizard cannot produce a spark when they used Relashio underwater, only a jet of hot water. But even the most powerful wizards and witches need training and practice to realize their full potential," she told him as they entered the common room.

"And I'm glad you're training me," Harry replied grinning.

"No, I'm not training you. I'm training with you. G'night Harry. Sleep tight." She patted his arm and disappeared into the fourth year girl dormitory.

Harry trudged up to his dorm, changed into his sleep clothes and fell right asleep, feeling, for the first time since the Triward Tournament started, somewhat confident that he could finish the tournament and maybe even win it with Hermione's help.

* * *

Thanks for reading and please leave a review. 


	9. Ch8: An eventful Valentine

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, WarnerBros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 8 - An eventful Valentine  
**

xXXXXXx

Days passed by quickly and before he realized, it was four days away from the second task – the Valentine's Day. Training with Hermione had intensified and they were learning more and more advanced spells, which he doubted even some adult wizards could cast. He was very delighted that he had finally caught up with Hermione in duelling. Their duels became more exciting and vigorous and only their fast thinking and a stroke of luck determined the winner. Even though Hermione had been his constant opponent for three months now, the duels were always a challenge to him since she didn't stick to a particular duelling style.

Ron still came to practise with them occasionally if he thought the spells they were learning were 'cool' but he never made a commitment like them no matter how much Hermione persuaded him and nagged him. Harry suspected that part of the reason was because he didn't like losing… either to him or to Hermione. He had spoken to Hermione about it and she said it would not be beneficial to both Ron and themselves if they were to let him win purposely. Harry agreed with her.

Harry entered the Great Hall, dreading what this day might have in store for him.

"Hi Harry," said a Ravenclaw girl as she approached him, her group of friends giggling like mad behind her.

"Erm… hi," Harry replied.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Harry. These are for you," she said as she dumped a bouquet of flowers into his unsuspecting arms. "Would you go out with me this evening for dinner?" she asked hurriedly.

"Uhh… I- erm- thanks for the offer and the flowers but I'm sorry. I already have somewhere to be," he lied awkwardly (and unconvincingly in his opinion) and practically ran away before the girl started making him feel bad for refusing her or worse started crying.

When he finally made it to the Gryffindor table, he had gotten two hear-shaped chocolate boxes and a Valentine card.

"Phew… I really do hope that's the end of it," he remarked as he sat down beside Hermione, who was reading the Daily Prophet.

She looked up with a smirk and said, "I think it's just the beginning."

"Why do you complain so much about it Harry? I think it's a good thing! You get to eat free chocolates!" Ron said.

"It's not a good thing. They all hated me and made fun of me when my name came out of the goblet and then suddenly they had a change of heart. Now, they all want a dinner date with me. How can I know they're sincere? Besides, I don't like being in the limelight. Oh, and you can have the chocolates if you want," Harry added as an afterthought.

"Really?" Ron asked eagerly, eyeing the chocolates. "Can I have them now?"

"Ron!" Hermione chastised him.

"What? It's not like Harry wants them," Ron defended himself.

Harry smiled at his friends' antics and started eating his breakfast.

"Hermy-own-ninny," came a thick-accented voice from behind them.

Harry turned around and saw Viktor Krum standing there, looking as grumpy as ever but when Hermione stood up to talk to him, his grumpy face turned into a slight smile. Harry frowned.

"Viktor." Hermione smiled at him.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Hermy-own-ninny. I haff bought those for you," he said as he brought a red rose and a box of chocolate from behind his back.

Harry scowled at him, suddenly wanting to yell at Krum. How dare he give flower to Hermione… in the Great Hall in front of the whole school no less. "_She doesn't want your stupid flower! I can buy her a hundred more beautiful flowers!_" he yelled at him mentally.

A flicker of indecisiveness crossed Hermione's face before she smiled demurely at Krum and said, "Thank you Viktor. It is very nice of you. However, may I have a word with you privately?"

Harry's scowl turned to Hermione but she ignored him and led Krum out of the Great Hall, leaving Harry annoyed and confused. What did she have to say to Krum that could not be said in front of them? Was the conversation more than friendly in nature? But she had kept insisting that Krum was a friend.

Feeling greatly disturbed, yet unable to fathom why he felt that way, Harry lost his appetite to eat. He pushed the bacon around his plate, brooding silently until Ron let out a choked noise.

He looked up to find Luna Lovegood sitting beside Ron, holding a weird-looking necklace which was made up of butterbeer corks.

"Hello Ronald, Harry. Good morning," she greeted.

Both Harry and Ron mumbled a good morning back to her, not knowing why she was here since Hermione had not returned from that… private talk with the Durmstrang champion.

"Ronald, I made this necklace for you as a present. It'll bring you luck and keep the three-legged furwart away," Luna said, giving the necklace to Ron, who looked at her with his mouth agape. The Ravenclaw girl continued to look at Ron dreamily, holding the necklace in front of his face while Ron remained too shocked to say anything.

Thinking that the situation needed intervention, Harry gave Ron's shin a kick.

"Ouch! Why do you-"

"Ron, shouldn't you say thank you to Luna?" Harry said, giving him a stern look.

"Erm- th-thank you Luna," Ron said uncertainly to her.

"You're welcome. I can make another one for you if you want but I must go now. Happy Valentine's Day," she said and put the necklace in Ron's hand as she stood up to return to her house table.

The two boys looked at each other, both dumbfounded. "Well, that was something," Harry finally remarked, which seemed to wake Ron from his stupor.

"Bloody hell!" he said.

Just then, Hermione came back and sat down beside Harry. "Was Luna here?" she asked when she noticed the necklace in front of Ron.

"Yup! Seems like Ron's got a Valentine's gift!" Harry said teasingly.

"Oh, shut up Harry. Can you believe it? Loony gave me one of her weird necklaces!" Ron said.

"She made it for you," Hermione stated.

"So what? You can't expect me to walk around school, wearing this weird thing! Why don't you try it yourself before telling me anything?" he retorted. Harry thought Ron made a good point here.

Although Hermione seemed like she wanted to say something, she thought better of it and kept quiet.

"Well… speaking of gifts, I've got something for you," Hermione said after some time.

Surprised, Harry looked at her, eager to see what she had gotten for him. Hermione took out a box of chocolate, wrapped in silver-coloured paper and placed it in front of… Ron.

Harry blinked his eyes to check if he had seen it correctly and yes, he had seen it correctly. The nicely wrapped box of chocolate was in front of Ron instead of him.

"Erm- since you're always hungry, I thought I'll get you some foods for present," Hermione explained.

"Th-thanks, Hermione," Ron said, looking as if he could not believe it was happening and Harry had to agree with him.

Hermione had never once given them a Valentine gift and they had been friends for nearly four years now. But why did she give it only to Ron? And where was his present? If Ron got one, shouldn't he get one too?

Harry cleared his throat slightly, reminding Hermione to give him his present but it didn't happen. Instead she took her bag and stood up, saying "C'mon, it's time for class. Let's go."

Harry frowned, feelings of unease... and jealousy?... seeping though him. Why didn't he get a present from her while Ron did? She had said he was her best friend and they had grown so much closer since they started their training. But what was the meaning of the present to Ron from Hermione's part? Was that a sign of romance interest?

That thought made his insides squirm uncomfortably and gave him a sense of wrongness and a flare of jealousy.

"_Why am I feeling this way? If she's romantically interested in Ron, it's none of my business!"_ Harry said to himself silently as he picked up his bag and followed his friends moodily.

They walked towards the Transfiguration classroom with Harry quietly brooding over what happened. Just as they were about to enter the classroom, Hermione pulled him aside.

"Harry, I just wanna tell you that there'll be no practice tonight but-"

"Yeah? So that you can have your little date with Krum? Or Ron maybe," Harry blurted out sullenly before he could stop himself.

Hermione looked shocked at his outburst but quickly recovered. "What?! You think I'm cancelling our practice because I have a date with Viktor or Ron? Oh Harry," she said and began to laugh.

"Well, don't you?"

"Of course not! Where did you get the idea? I'm cancelling the training tonight because I have something else planned for you… to help you relax and have fun since the second task is drawing near," she explained.

"Oh. Uhh- I'm sorry. I just thought… I don't know," he said lamely, feeling embarrassed for his immaturity.

"Wait a minute! Is it because of the chocolate I gave Ron?" Hermione questioned.

Not knowing if he should admit or deny, Harry kept quiet but his silence was answer enough for Hermione.

"Oh Harry," Hermione said as she took his hand. "I gave it to him because I was feeling guilty. I had a special gift planned for you and I didn't include him tonight so I felt I was neglecting him so I owl-ordered a chocolate for him yesterday."

"_She had a special gift planned for me?" _he thought. "Really?" he asked her.

"Of course. Honeydukes takes owl orders during Valentine."

"No, I mean… erm- about the gift you planned for me…"

"Oh, yes. I'll give it to you tonight. Now let's go before Professor McGonagall starts docking points," she said and dragged him into the classroom before he could say another word.

The Transfiguration lesson was a blur to him because his mind was full of thoughts about Hermione, Valentine's Day and their friendship in general. While it was alright to give a friend a Valentine gift, he was not sure what Hermione had planned for him was within the range of friendship. And if it wasn't, what did it mean? Did it mean Hermione had more than friendly feelings towards him? No… it could not be. He was her best friend; she told him so herself. It must be that she cared for him a great deal, hence going all the way to plan something for him.

Despite his confusion about her 'plans', he was utterly relieved that she was at least not having a dinner date with Krum or Ron… or anybody else for that mattered. He could not comprehend for the life of him why he felt a surge of jealousy whenever he thought of Hermione with some other guy for she was his best friend and he had no 'un-friendly' feelings towards her? Right?

Harry felt very ashamed of himself for thinking that Hermione had forgotten about him when she, far from forgetting about him, had even planned something for him! And he didn't even buy anything for her!

"_I have to buy something for her! But what?_" he wondered silently. _"Hermione mentioned Honeydukes takes owl order today… but I don't want to buy her sweets… Krum had already done that. Then what?"_

After several discussions with himself, Harry finally decided that a secret trip to Hogsmeade was in order. He quickly took out his timetable and checked for free periods; lucky for him, Care of Magical Creatures, which was before lunch time, was the last class after which he had free periods for the rest of the day.

Harry smiled.

xXXXXXx

Hermione observed Harry during Transfiguration as Professor McGonagall taught them how to transfigure a rat into a squirrel. He seemed to be confused and lost in thoughts at first but a mischievous smile slowly crossed his face towards the end of the class.

The little talk she had with Harry before class made her rethink some of her actions. Was she too obvious in letting Harry know her feelings? Did he think she was too forward? Hermione knew for certain that Harry was surprised by what she revealed to have planned for them for the evening and she would not blame him. After all, it did seem a little too unusual to have a special Valentine evening with one's female best friend instead of a girlfriend.

Another careless mistake of hers which Harry had unintentionally pointed out was one regarding Ron. She wondered how she could be so wrapped up in her feelings about tonight that she had neglected how Ron might think of her little Valentine's gift to him. She mentally noted that a conversation with Ron about the gift was in need.

Speaking of conversation about Valentine gifts, her mind drifted to the one she had earlier with Viktor. She had not anticipated the Bulgarian to give her anything for she had already made herself clear that she had no romantic interest in him. However, it turned out that Viktor was another very stubborn person.

_::FLASHBACK::_

_She ignored Harry's glare at them and led Viktor out of the Great Hall._

"_Vhat do you want to talk about?" he asked._

"_Look Viktor… I don't mean to be rude but I want to let you know that I accepted your gifts as your friend… not something more. I- erm- I've already said this but I'll say it again to make sure you understand perfectly. I like you… but only as a friend because my heart already belongs with somebody else."_

"_I understand your heart belongs with another but you are currently single and unattached. I vill not giff up until somebody officially claims it. I am not forcing you but rather hoping that you might haff a change of heart," he stated obstinately._

"_Viktor, please don't do this. I'm very sure I won't have a change of heart. Please keep your affection for someone who will return it," Hermione reasoned._

"_I do not expect anything from you but if you change your mind, please know that I am here," he stated simply._

"_I'm telling you you're wasting your time on me," she argued._

"_I am still young. I haff a lot of time."_

_Hermione let out a frustrated sigh since his tone indicated that the conversation was clearly over. She went back into the Great Hall._

_::END FLASHBACK::_

She wondered what she had done to make the Durmstrang champion think he might have a chance if she changed her heart, which was completely impossible. Did she appear too friendly to him? She could not help it since he was a good friend and ally in her memories. Thinking of how she could keep a distance from him and yet remain friendly, Hermione added another thing to her growing mental list of things-to-do.

"I want a two-foot-long homework on today's lesson, to be submitted latest by next week. Class dismissed," Professor McGonagall said.

Everyone gathered their things and made their way out of the Transfiguration classroom. Pulling Ron aside, Hermione said to Harry, "Why don't you go first? I need to talk to Ron for awhile."

Harry had a questioning look but he didn't say anything as he went ahead.

"What is it Hermione that you can't talk in front of Harry?" Ron asked.

"Erm… it's about the- the chocolate I gave you. I- uhh- I didn't mean anything when I gave them. No, sorry… it didn't come out right. What I want to say is… that I gave them to you as a friend, nothing more… and I- erm- don't want you to… take it the wrong way," she explained.

"Huh?" Ron said, looking very befuddled. Suddenly a look of understanding crossed his face and he smiled widely, looking rather smug. "Oh… of course. It's okay, Hermione. I understand. It's alright, really."

He gave her arm a squeeze and walked off with an evident bounce in his steps.

"_That was kinda weird,"_ she thought to herself as she followed him to the next class. _"At least he understood the first time I explained."_

The day passed by quickly and evening approached. Looking for Harry, she found him entering the common room, looking very pleased with himself.

"Harry," she called. "Wait for me here at seven o'clock and don't eat anything."

"Are we having dinner somewhere then?" Harry asked.

"Of course we are… not just at the Great Hall."

"Oh… erm- alright. Where're we gonna eat?"

"Make a guess."

"The kitchens?"

Hermione laughed. "Nope! But you'll find out soon enough. Now, I'm gonna go get ready," she said as she went up to her dormitory.

After taking a quick shower, Hermione dried her hair and took out the clothes she had picked out for the evening – a simple but nice, blue sweater and a matching skirt. She decided against using Sleekeazy's potion since Harry had once told her that he liked her hair as it was. A glance at her watch told her that it was five minutes to seven so she grabbed her bag containing the present and made her way down to the common room.

Harry was already there, sitting in one of the couches.

"Hey Harry… ready to go?"

"Hermione… y-you look… nice," Harry stuttered, blushing slightly.

"Thanks. You look quite handsome yourself," she said, smiling at him. "C'mon let's go then."

xXXXXXx

They walked out of the common room and Harry could still feel the nervous flutters in his chest as he followed her. She led him out of the castle and towards the Lake.

"We're eating outside? But it's freezing!" Harry complained.

"We do know magic, don't we?" she replied cheekily.

They made their way to a secluded part of the Lake, which was facing the Quidditch Pitch.

"Erm… Hermione, where is the food?" Harry asked uncertainly.

She smiled and said, "Dobby?"

With a small pop, Dobby appeared. "Harry Potter sir! Dobby has prepared everything for Harry Potter sir and his Miss Hermy!" the eager elf said, giving them a bow. Dobby snapped his fingers; a big blanket with two baskets full of foods appeared in front of them.

"Thank you, Dobby," Hermione said as the house-elf Disapparated but not before giving them another bow.

"What about S.P.E.W Hermione?" Harry asked teasingly. Hermione cast a warming charm on themselves and on the blanket as they sat down.

"I will have you know that I paid Dobby for his help with all this… even though I had to argue with him for an hour. I wanted to pay him five galleons but finally we agreed on one sickle and a few socks!"

"Hermione, I'd say you're lucky he accepted your pay. Enough about Dobby… c'mon, let's eat. I'm starving."

Harry found himself enjoying their evening immensely. He forgot for a moment that somebody wanted him dead by putting his name in the Goblet of Fire. He forgot for a moment that the second task was four days away. He forgot for a moment that Cedric and Dumbledore might probably be dead in the near future. He forgot all those worrisome things as they talked merrily while eating the delicious meal Dobby had prepared.

"I learned how to read when I was very young and I did read a lot of books," Hermione told him.

"I don't expect anything less from you. I bet you were already reading stuff like Shakespeare when you were five-year-old huh?" Harry teased.

Hermione blushed prettily and Harry found himself pleased inside.

"Well, what can I say? I love to read! If I remember correctly, my first accidental magic was because of a book as well. I think I was six or seven… my mom wanted me to go to bed but I wanted to finish my Jane Austen book. So she put it on the top shelf where I couldn't get it. I was very upset and the book just floated down from the shelf… gave my mom quite a fright," Hermione told her story.

Harry laughed. "Only you, Hermione… only you. I must say I wasn't as fortunate as you were. Every accidental magic I did when I was young was Dursley-induced. I think I Apparated onto the school rooftop when I was chased by Dudley's gang. Then, I managed to grow back my hair after my aunt gave me an awful haircut. She was very angry with me."

Hermione suddenly looked sad. "Oh Harry, I promise you won't have to go back to your awful relatives again."

"But I have nowhere to go to… and Dumbledore insists I go back there," he replied sadly.

"To hell with Dumbledore! You can always come and stay with me… or with the Weasleys. I'll find a way, I promise," she said passionately, surprising Harry, who had never heard her speak of a teacher, not to mention the Headmaster, that way.

"Th-thanks, Hermione."

She gave his hand a squeeze. "It's alright. Oh, and before I forget, let me get you your present."

Harry's heartbeat quickened slightly as he waited expectantly for Hermione to take out the gift all the while feeling in his pocket for the present he had bought for her at Hogsmeade.

Hermione reached within her bag and took out something, which looked like a photo stand.

"Here you go. Happy Valentine's Day," she said gently as she handed him the photo frame.

"Wow!" was all he could say when he looked at the photo inside.

There stood his parents, Sirius and Professor Lupin, and what was more surprising was the picture of himself standing along side with them. Picture James and Picture Sirius seemed to be arguing and Picture Remus, Picture Lily and Picture Harry were laughing at them. Picture Lily would then turn to Picture Harry and ruffled his hair lovingly.

Harry's eyes welled up as he looked at the photo. It simply was the best gift anyone could have given him. Hermione had managed to capture a moment with his parents that he would never experience. Before he could stop himself, he had taken Hermione in a fierce hug.

"Thank you Hermione. It's such a great gift. Thank you so much," he mumbled as more tears formed in his eyes when he thought of his parents. He finally let her go, embarrassed that he had lost control.

"I thought… since it's Valentine's Day, you should hold your loved ones near," Hermione said as she patted his arm.

"How did you make it anyway? It must take a lot of work," Harry wondered.

"I asked Professor Lupin for a photo from his school days. I deleted Wormtail out of it and added your picture, which I had gotten from Colin… kind of a complex process but I got loads of help from the professors especially Flitwick."

"Oh… thanks again Hermione. Well, I- uhh- I also have something for you," Harry said as he took out a locket with a necklace attached to it.

"It- It's not as special as your gift but the moment I saw it, I knew I had to get it for you."

It was true. He had roamed around Hogsmeade, searching for the right gift for Hermione but when he passed by a jewellery store, something in the window caught his eyes immediately. It was a simple silver necklace with a heart-shaped locket attached to it. The locket had small rubies and emeralds embedded on its outer surface and it held a space inside to hold two tiny photos. He wondered for awhile if it was suitable for him to buy her jewellery but he was drawn to it and it felt right inside.

"Oh, Harry! It's beautiful! But it must be so expensive! Why did you buy something so expensive? Hermione gushed happily as she held the locket in her hand.

"As long as you like it. Do you?" Harry asked, desperately hoping for her to say yes.

"I love it! Would you put it on for me please?" Hermione smiled and turned her back to him, moving her hair to give him access.

Harry shakily put it around her neck, trying not to stare at the bare skin at her neck too long.

"Thank you Harry. It is lovely," she said as she fingered the locket on her chest gently.

As the moon rays reflected off her face, he found himself staring at her. She held a very different kind of beauty with her skin looking smooth and her brown curls appearing almost golden as moonlight bathed her.

Without knowing what he was doing, he was drawing closer to her and their faces were inches apart. Hermione moved even closer to him and now their lips were only millimetres away. Closing the gap between them, Harry touched her lips with his and felt a burst of emotion tingling through his body.

When Hermione moved her lips against his and nibbled slightly on them, he thought he might have died. Harry let out an unhappy noise when Hermione finally pulled away.

"Wow," Harry whispered.

"Yeah."

He looked down and started fidgeting with a loose thread on his jumper as he didn't know what to say.

"H-Harry… what- what does it mean between us?"

"I- I have no idea," he replied lamely, feeling stupid with his answer.

"What do you want it to mean?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno. I wasn't thinking then… it just… felt right at the moment."

"How about now? How do you feel about me now?"

"You're my best friend and I like you… I mean, not in that way. Or maybe I like you… I- I don't know. I don't know how I feel alright?" he said, feeling frustrated.

"So, you just kissed me because it was on the spur kind of thing?"

"No! I don't know what to say, okay? Shouldn't you be the one to tell me? You know, with your memories and all?" Harry prompted.

"Harry, this is not about the memories I have. This is about the way you feel now. Whether I have those memories or not, you should feel as you want to and not be obligated because of the memories," Hermione said, sounding as frustrated as he was.

"I- I-"

"Alright, let me go first. I admit, Harry, that my feelings towards you have been more than what friends should have towards one another but you shouldn't feel forced to say anything because of it. Just tell me the truth, Harry. Be honest. What do you feel towards me?"

"Well… I- I'm confused. I mean, I like you obviously since you're my best friend but I'm not sure if it is in a more than friendly way. To admit the truth, I was crushing on Cho at the beginning of the school year. Then, we started our training and I spent more time with you… and I got to know a lot more about you than before. I guess, my feelings sort of changed and- and- I feel very confused right now. I'm not sure what I feel."

Hermione was quiet for a long time and Harry thought he had said something he should not have.

"Alright," she began. "How about you sort your feelings out? I was thinking of stopping our training to give you a rest before the second task anyway. It would give you the time and space you would need to reexamine your feelings."

"Okay. But I don't want things to- to get awkward between us," Harry said sincerely.

"Don't worry Harry. We'll always be best friends… even if nothing more comes out of this." She smiled at him.

Harry smiled back. Although he felt as baffled as ever, he must admit things could have been worse between them.

"Even though you're not practising with me, you must practise the spells you might need in the second task. I don't want you doing badly by slacking off," Hermione warned him.

Laughing, Harry replied, "Don't worry. I'm too scared of the merpeople and the grindylows to be slacking off."

"Good. Now, we must get back inside before curfew starts. Thanks again, Harry, for the lovely locket."

"You're welcome but I should be the one to thank you for the photo… and the dinner," he replied.

After Hermione called Dobby to clear the baskets, they made their way back to the castle.

* * *

Thank you, everyone, for reading and special thanks to those who reviewed. 


	10. Ch9: The Second Task

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 9 - The Second Task  
**

xXXXXXx

Harry woke up two hours before the second task on the 24th of February, glad that he was having a reprieve from their usual morning run. He had gone to bed sullenly the night before when Hermione grinned playfully at him and adamantly refused to tell him what the thing he would sorely miss would be, saying that he would know soon enough.

To be truthful, Harry had expected things to get a bit uncomfortable between them but Hermione treated him no differently than she used to before they had kissed and he was grateful for it. More than a week had passed since Valentine's Day and Harry had mulled over his feelings for Hermione, for Cho and for everything else in general. Cho was a passing fancy – what every teenager went through at one time or the other – he was certain of it now. But what about Hermione? He was sure that he liked Hermione romantically but was she just a passing fancy too? Harry was not sure. But he was sure he did not want their friendship to be damaged if they pursued a relationship and it ended on bad terms.

After wearing the swimming suit Hermione had chosen for him under his Hogwarts robes, Harry grabbed the jar of gillyweed they had obtained from the Room of Requirement and made his way to the Great Hall to join Ron and Hermione. Thus, he was surprised when neither of them was there when he finally got to the Great Hall.

Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table and made some small talk with his housemates, wondering where Hermione and Ron were. Hermione probably was in the library but Ron… Harry didn't see his friend in the dormitory when he woke up. Where could they be?

With a quick goodbye to his housemates who were excited about the second task and wishing him good luck, Harry made his way back to his dormitory to get the Maurauder's Map to locate Hermione and Ron. Taking the map out of his trunk, he muttered "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." A feeling of worry rose up his chest when the search on the Marauder's Map turned up with nothing. He wondered anxiously what had happened to them.

It was apparent from the map that they were not on the school grounds and that would… warrant the Head of House's attention. He needed to talk to McGonagall! Harry rushed to Professor McGonagall's office and banged on her door noisily.

"PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL?!!" he called. "I need to talk to you urgently!"

The door opened a moment later and McGonagall looked at Harry with a stern frown on her face.

"What seems to be the problem, Mr. Potter?"

"Professor, I can't find Hermione anywhere on the school grounds!! And Ron as well! Do you think they were kidnapped?!" he asked anxiously.

"Kidnapped?" she repeated.

"Yes. They wouldn't leave the school grounds for anything… especially today."

"What day is today, Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked calmly.

"How can you be so calm? They could be in danger. Any why are you asking what day today is? What has it got to do with anything?"

"What are you supposed to do today?" she asked again.

"Erm… the second task? But what's- oh. OH! Hermione is the thing I would sorely miss! No wonder she didn't want to tell me!" Harry said more to himself than to McGonagall and ran out of her office before she could utter a word.

He made a mad dash towards the Lake and saw people already gathering there. The Slytherins flashed him the "POTTER STINKS!" badges but he could care less about them. He paced frantically on the shore, earning curious stares from his schoolmates. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to jump in the Lake straightaway and get Hermione out without wasting any more time.

Looking around, he saw Cedric coming with his friends.

"Cedric! Do you know they've got our friends under the Lake as hostages!! How could they do that? How could they risk their lives like this?" he asked the Hufflepuff champion as he approached the Lake.

"Harry! Hey, don't worry. I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to them," the older boy reassured him but Harry continued to pace worriedly, wanting the second task to start more than anything else in his life.

Soon – but not soon enough in Harry's opinion – the other champions and the judges arrived. Dumbledore made an announcement to the audience about the task, which Harry tuned out. He opened the jar of gillyweed, holding it in his right hand.

Bagman approached him and tried to give him advice about what to do but Harry brushed him off and soon, he heard the whistle sound, which was the signal for the start of the second task. Quickly chewing and swallowing the gillyweed in his hand, Harry waded into the water, waiting for the plant to take its effect.

When he felt the usual pain in his neck and became suffocated, Harry flung himself into the water – a gulp of water through the gills sending much needed oxygen to his brain. Harry pulled his wand out of the wand holster and started to swim in the direction he and Hermione had taken a few weeks back.

The non-verbal 'Relashio' spell proved to be useful against a quick encounter with the grindylows half way to the merpeople village. As he swam on, Harry met Moaning Myrtle who tried to point him in the right direction. Soon enough, he reached the merfolks village without any other encounters with the grindylows. Swimming through the village, he saw many merpeople eyeing him curiously but he paid them no mind and kept his eyes open for any signs of the hostages they had taken.

Following the mersong that floated over to his ears, he finally noticed a group of merpeople holding spears and guarding the hostages. Harry held his wand tightly and prepared himself in case the merpeople attacked him as he swam forward. When he got closer, he saw four people tied tightly to a stone statue of a merperson and spotted Hermione in less than a second. She looked like she was in a very deep sleep and there was a stream of bubbles escaping her mouth. A deep panic and fear filled his mind when he saw her looking so fragile and… seemingly dead. He swam quickly to her and tried to shake her awake but Hermione did not seem to be waking up anytime soon.

Harry looked at the other hostages – Cho Chang, a young girl with silvery hair, who resembled Fleur Delacour, and… Ron? Harry stared at his friend in confusion for a moment, his mind working out whose hostage Ron was because Ron was not particularly close to any of the other champions except Harry himself. Maybe Ron was his hostage… then, whose hostage was Hermione? Cho must be Cedric's hostage and the girl, without a doubt, was Fleur's. That would mean… Hermione was Krum's hostage.

Blind fury and jealousy bubbled within him as realization hit him. Hermione was the thing Krum would sorely miss?!! That was the most ridiculous thing he had ever known. Krum hardly knew Hermione; how could she be the thing he would miss most?! Dumbledore and the judges had got it all wrong!! Hermione was the thing Harry would sorely miss! Not that Bulgarian git!

And there was no way he would put Hermione's life in Krum's hands. Harry did not know if he should take the mersong seriously but what if the guy turned up late? He was not risking Hermione's life. With non-verbal cutting hexes, Harry cut the thick weeds tying Ron and Hermione, which caused an uproar with the merpeople guarding the hostages but Harry paid them no mind. Taking hold of both of their arms, he began to swim upwards but the merpeople pulled Hermione out of his grasp.

"Take your own hostage!" one of them said, brandishing his spear at Harry.

"I'm taking her with me!" he tried to yell back but only large bubbles came out of his mouth.

Just then Cedric came with a huge bubble surrounding his head. He nodded at Harry but quickly cut through the ropes around Cho with a knife he had brought and he was off in no time.

Harry was now more determined than ever to take back Ron and Hermione and resurface himself. He pointed his wand at the merperson holding Hermione and gave him a warning look. The creature looked terrified and quickly released Hermione, whom Harry summoned to him.

Sending a silent stunner whizzing past a merperson's head to scare them and prevent them from stopping him, Harry began to rise with both of his friends when an overly large fish swam out of nowhere towards them at a tremendously fast speed. Pushing his friends out of harm's way, he ducked and was about to curse the fish away when he noticed that it was no fish at all. It looked like… Krum had transfigured himself into half a shark – with a shark head and a man's torso and limbs.

The shark-man tried to reach for Hermione but Harry instinctively sent a hex his way. Krum moved just in time to avoid his hex and snapped his jaws, as if telling Harry to give back his hostage. Harry realized Krum had a right to take Hermione from him and he had to give her. Another wave of jealousy and worry boiled inside him as he struggled with his conscience to let Krum take Hermione up. He could not trust Hermione's safety with anybody else except himself. What if Krum accidentally hurt her when taking her up?

He was so absorbed in contemplating his next action that he failed to notice the merpeople swimming towards him and restraining him with their spears as the Durmstrang champion took Hermione by the waist and quickly swam away. The merpeople released him just as he was about to curse them and scampered away… back to Fleur's sister.

He was about to follow Krum when he realized that the half-veela still had not come to retrieve her sister. Although he did not think Dumbledore would let the hostages die just because their champion could not save them in time, he was not entirely sure and he did not want to risk the life of a young girl who had nothing to do with the tournament.

Glancing around to see if Fleur was coming, Harry cut the weeds and summoned the girl to him when he did not see the Beauxbatons champion coming, all the while sending a warning look to prevent the merpeople from interfering. He held both of the hostages and swam up before the effect of the gillyweed ran out.

Harry finally made it to the surface of the water but not without applying the bubblehead charm after the gillyweed became ineffective. Hermione had made him learn the charm in case something happened with the gillyweed and he was glad that he listened to her.

Ron and Fleur's sister had woken up from their enchanted sleep as they surfaced, coughing up some water.

"You made it Harry!" Ron said. "Wait a minute! Why the bloody hell did you bring her for?" he asked as he saw the girl.

"I wasn't sure if I should take the song seriously!" Harry replied.

"Well, you shouldn't. Dumbledore would never let anything happen to the hostages. I hope you didn't act a hero down there," Ron commented.

Harry frowned, feeling stupid and chastised. "Whatever… let's just get out of the water!" he said as they helped the scared younger part-Veela towards the shore and the awaiting crowd with the merpeople following them. Dumbledore and Bagman stood smiling at him but Percy came splashing into the water and tried to drag Ron onto the bank. Fleur, also, was hysterical with panic, breaking free from Madam Maxime's grip on her and hugging her sister tightly, muttering about the grindylows.

His eyes quickly searched for Hermione and he felt greatly relieved when he located her wrapped in thick blankets and surrounded by Cho, Cedric and Viktor, who were being fussed over by Madam Pomfrey. Hermione, having seen Harry emerge, wrestled with the blankets and tried to make her way to him but Madam Pomfrey saved her the trouble by dragging him towards the other champions and hostages. He was wrapped up in blankets like the others in no time and Madam Pomfrey forced a steaming potion down his throat.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione said as she took him in a hug.

He hugged her back tightly. "Hermione! I was so worried! Are you alright? I didn't want to let Krum take you. I was going to take you up myself."

"I'm alright now, and I'm very proud of you. You behaved just as I expected you would," she said happily as she beamed at him proudly.

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Gabrielle – Fleur's sister. It was very noble of you to bring her," she said and kissed his cheeks.

Harry blushed Weasley red and replied, "Well… I couldn't just leave her there when I wasn't sure she would be alright." He smiled inwardly, glad that Hermione approved of his actions. He did not care what the whole school thought of him; her opinion was the one that mattered most.

"I'm just so happy that you're safe now," he said. Feeling daring, he took her hand in his and noticed that Krum looked very much put out. He smiled smugly at him, still holding Hermione's hand, and looked around. Madam Pomfrey was fussing over Ron, and Dumbledore seemed to having a conversation with the chief of the merpeople. Karkaroff glared at Harry, looking displeased that Harry had returned safely with the hostages.

Harry looked challengingly at Karkaroff and moved his attention to the merpeople and Dumbledore, who looked up at him at the same moment. He felt a subtle Legilimency probe in his mind when their eyes met and his shields snapped up instantly, blocking the probe. To say Harry was shocked would be an understatement; he could not believe Dumbledore had tried to read his mind! And for what reason?!

With an unreadable expression on his face, the Headmaster broke eye contact with him and returned to his conversation with the merpeople. Harry gave Hermione's hand a squeeze and mouthed, "We need to talk later."

The rest of the second task went by rather quickly with Ludo Bagman announcing their scores. Harry was pleasantly surprised when he got second place with forty-five marks after Cedric who got forty-seven marks out of fifty. Krum and Fleur got forty and twenty-five marks respectively.

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Thanks a lot for reading. Please leave a review. 


	11. Ch10: Revelations

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Blooomsbury, WarnerBros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 10 - Revelations**

xXXXXXx

The day after the second task, Hermione had to drag Harry to the Room of Requirement before he really lost it and hexed the people who were teasing her about being the thing Viktor would miss sorely. Although she was highly pleased that Harry was probably jealous and protective of her, she couldn't let him get into trouble for jinxing other students and coaxed him to the Room of Requirement, hinting that they needed to talk about the second task.

"The whole school has gone crazy. How can you be someone Krum will miss most? He has just known you for a few months!" Harry grumbled, sitting down on the couch the room had provided.

"Oh Harry, don't take it too seriously. They're just joking around," Hermione consoled.

"I don't care! And you! You knew about being Krum's hostage, didn't you? But you didn't tell me!"

"What would you have done if I had told you? Are you going to run off to the judges and tell them I shouldn't be his hostage? You couldn't have done anything different," she countered.

"Well… well… I would at least be prepared! And why didn't that Bulgarian have anyone else closer to him?! Like his sister… or father… or whoever it is!!" he protested heatedly.

"Harry, calm down! It's no big deal, really. To tell you the truth, I don't think I'm the person Viktor would miss sorely. What I presume is that the judges don't really have a way to find out whom the champions will miss most. I think they just saw Viktor being friendly to me… taking me to the ball, giving me Valentine's gift and stuff like that… so they probably decided to make me his hostage. It's really nothing to get upset over."

"Well- It's just-"

"And I've told you a dozen times before. Viktor is a good friend, but nothing more," Hermione interjected.

Harry sighed. "You're probably right. It's just that- I- I don't know!"

"You're jealous," she stated simply.

"No, I'm not!" Harry replied, blushing a little.

"Yes, you are," Hermione retorted, a small smile on her lip.

"Oh, alright! Maybe a bit."

Hermione smiled kindly and patted his arm as if to say 'it's okay'.

"Anyway, I have something to tell you," Harry quickly changed the subject. "Dumbledore… or at least I think it was him. He tried Legilimency on me after the task while we were waiting for the scores."

"He did? He was talking with the merpeople then, wasn't he? Hmm… why would he do that?" she wondered.

"I have no idea… that's why I'm telling you now. Maybe you might know?"

"Maybe you did something underwater that might catch his attention?"

"I didn't do anything special, really. I tried to save both you and Ron at first… kind of caused a bit of a struggle with the merpeople but Krum came and took you afterwards. Then I brought Gabrielle along and resurfaced," he recounted.

"Did you use any spells during your struggle with the merpeople? They might tell Dumbledore about it."

"Erm… just a stunner and a hex. Oh, and cutting charms to cut the weeds. They're not that advanced except for that hex maybe. Why would Dumbledore be that interested to use Legilimency on me?"

"Oh Harry, it isn't about whether the spells are advanced or not. It is simply the fact that you can use them underwater. First of all, it was non-verbal. Second, your magic has developed immensely since we started training that your spells didn't become less powerful even underwater. Not every fourth year student can do those things. Dumbledore must be curious from the merpeople's account," Hermione reasoned.

He nodded, accepting her explanation. "Alright, but I don't think he found out anything. My shield went up the second he entered my mind but the thing is he shouldn't be looking into my mind without my permission. He could've asked me!" he said, sounding slightly angered and disbelieved.

"I don't have an explanation why he did it while he could've asked you. I don't understand quite a lot of his actions," Hermione replied.

"Why don't we confront him about it? I mean, I still can't believe it!"

"I've thought about confronting him but we need to do it tactfully because we're going to need a lot of his help later. Besides, you need to know what happened in the previous timeline before you go off to deal with him," she reasoned.

"Well… I'm sure we'll find a way to talk to him tactfully… and about the memories you received, you can tell me already, you know. I _did_ block Dumbledore's probe yesterday," Harry supplied.

"Hmm… I guess your Occlumency is probably strong enough now," Hermione said, nodding. "But you need to go through another test though."

"Uhh… not another attack," Harry groaned.

"Nope… I won't be forcing into your mind. It'll be something else… something worse… or better depending on you."

"It sounds kind of scary. Am I supposed to try it now?" he asked anxiously.

"Anything you want. If you feel you're ready now, why not?" she answered.

"Hmm… How about tomorrow? I think I'll practise a bit more tonight before I attempt whatever you have in mind. Besides, we're going to restart our training tomorrow as well," he suggested.

"As you wish. If your shields hold tomorrow, I can tell you the rest of the memories I had received. It's been too heavy a responsibility for me," she told him. Harry nodded.

A comfortable silence fell between them and Hermione took up a book for reading whereas Harry proceeded to complete his Potion homework.

Inconspicuously, Hermione studied Harry from behind her book. She had been anxious over the last few days about Harry sorting out his feelings for her and maybe for Cho Chang as well. Her Harry in the previous timeline was much more mature and had gone through a lot more things with her while Harry of present timeline still needed some time to mature. Hermione just hoped he realized his feelings sooner instead of putting her through emotional hardship.

She looked at him again. He seemed very much deep in thoughts and his face had a look of concentration on it. Glancing at his homework parchment, Hermione saw that he had written only one line on it… surely, the essay wasn't that hard. Harry looked up at that instance and she quickly averted her eyes back to her book, pretending to be reading it all this time.

"Erm… Hermione?" he called.

She looked up from her book and said, "Yes?"

"I've come to a decision about it," Harry answered.

"About what?"

"Us… you and me," he replied.

"Oh… erm… so you've come to a conclusion about your feelings?"

"Yes."

Hermione could feel her heart pounding furiously as she waited Harry to elaborate his answer. Despite being Harry's wife in the other timeline, she knew she could never take things for granted.

With bated breath, she listened as Harry started to talk.

"Well… at first, I was afraid what I feel for you might be just a teenage crush," he began. "I mean… I like you and I care a lot about you… if I don't, you wouldn't be my best friend, would you? The main thing though is that I wasn't sure if I like you enough in a romantic way to pursue a relationship with you."

"I hope there's a 'but' coming," Hermione squeaked, feeling a hundred times more nervous than she did before exam results were released.

Harry smiled reassuringly and her spirits rose a little as she mentally urged him to talk.

"But after the second task, I realized I like you and care about you a great deal more than I previously thought. I was sick with worry when I couldn't find you anywhere this morning… when McGonagall hinted that you were involved in the second task, I thought I would go mad and I automatically assumed you were my hostage. Then I finally found you in the water and I was so scared for you… seeing you there, looking dead… I- I came to a big realization."

His cheeks had a tinge of red as he struggled to say more. Taking a deep breath, he finally said, "Hermione, I can't live my life without you. I need you- I _want_ you by my side as a best friend and… more. A lot more… would you- wouldyoubemygirlfriend?"

A giant weight lifted from her heart and she could feel her love for Harry rolling off in waves. A happy tear rolled down her cheek as she enveloped Harry in a tight embrace. He returned her hug and they remained in that position for some time before she slowly released him, smiling widely with tears glistening in her eyes.

"Hey, why are you crying? I thought this is supposed to be a happy thing," he said softly as he wiped the tears on her cheek.

"Happy tears," she replied simply, cupping his face and drawing him close.

They slowly got closer until their lips touched gently. Nibbling on his lower lip, Hermione entangled her fingers in his wild hair as Harry held her around the waist. They continued kissing softly until oxygen became a necessity. Breaking apart and resting their foreheads against each other, they looked into each other's eyes.

"You won't believe how happy that makes me," Hermione whispered.

"I might have some idea."

The rest of the night passed by with the two of them kissing and enjoying each other's company until curfew. They silently slipped back into the common room after curfew, both going up to their dormitories with wide grins on their faces.

xXXXXXx

They resumed their routine morning run at 5:00 a.m. the next morning and Harry realized how much he missed the exercise in the early morning even if he had to wake up very early. The session became more enjoyable since he and Hermione started going out. Sharing a smile here and a light touch there with her made him ridiculously happy. They finally went back inside the castle to lift weights when the horizon became a reddish hue with the sunrays.

After taking his shower, he went down to the common room and saw Hermione waiting for him. Smiling at him, she took hold of his hand and led him to the Great Hall. As they walked hand-in-hand, Harry furtively looked around to see if other people had seen them. To admit the truth, he had always been very reserved in showing affection openly due to his horrible childhood with the Dursleys. Through his fourteen years of life, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were the only ones to ever openly show him affections and give him hugs. He felt uncomfortable to even hold hands with Hermione now that everybody could see them (although he thoroughly did enjoy kissing her last night).

In fact, he enjoyed it a little too much that he had some difficulties practising Occlumency afterwards. He knew he was supposed to clear his mind of all thoughts and emotions but the time with Hermione kept coming back. Fortunately, he finally managed to achieve that feat and refined his Occlumency skills so that he could finally find out about the memories of Hermione's past self… or the future self? It was rather confusing.

When they reached the Great Hall, it was sparsely filled with students since it was still quite early for most of them except for a few early risers. Harry and Hermione quickly took their seats at the Gryffindor table and filled their plates with breakfast. People started filing in after some time and they saw Ron lumbering in, obviously still sleepy.

Harry started when Hermione gave a soft gasp and grabbed his hand under the table.

"Harry, we have to tell him," she whispered urgently.

"Ron?"

"Yes!"

"Oh. Okay, we'll tell him then. Let me call him over-"

"No!" she disagreed hotly, albeit quietly.

"What?" Harry returned, confused at her actions.

"We need to talk to him… _privately_," she supplied.

"Oh… alright. How about… tomorrow night then? Since we have the Occlumency stuff tonight," he reasoned.

"Good morning, Ron," Harry greeted the redhead cheerfully as he sat down in front of them.

"I don't know how you could be so cheery so early in the morning," Ron grumbled as he started heaping food into his plate. "At least the food is good here."

"You think all kinds of food are good, Ron," Hermione stated.

Ron replied something incomprehensible, nearly spraying them with food fragments, since his mouth was full. Harry was surprised when Hermione didn't reproach him but just gave him a disapproving look and went back to her breakfast, reading the Daily Prophet.

After they finished their breakfast, the three friends headed off to start their classes for the day.

As the evening drew closer, Harry became more and more eager to find out about what Hermione had to tell him that he even began to look forward to whatever Occlumency test she would put him through. Finally, the evening arrived and the two of them sneaked off to the Room of Requirement.

"Alright, what is the test going to be?" Harry asked curiously.

"A Boggart."

"A Boggart?" he asked confusedly.

"Yup."

"But how is it going to test my Occlumency shields?"

"Boggarts use very subtle but strong Legilimency to find out what our fears are. If you have even the tiniest gap or hole that can give them a peep into your mind, they'll find a way. If you can keep the Boggart from seeing your fear, then your shields are good enough," Hermione explained.

He frowned and looked at her sceptically. "Are you sure about this? So, the Boggart won't turn into anything if I keep up my shields?"

She nodded and explained further. "It's a bit different from how I would force into your mind though. Like I said, I _force_ into your mind… brutal and not gentle at all but you can keep me out if you're strong and mentally disciplined enough. But Boggarts… their Legilimency is very sneaky… very much like your connection to Voldemort. Their presence in your mind is not that obtrusive but much harder to block."

Harry gulped. "_That sounds pretty intimidating_," he thought.

"When you're ready," she informed him as a closet suddenly materialized in front of them.

"No time like the present," Harry replied wryly, gripping his wand and quickly refreshing his memory of the Patronus Charm in case his shields failed.

"I know you're ready, Harry. You can do it," Hermione encouraged him, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek and with a flick of her wand, the closet door slowly opened.

Concentrating hard on his shields, Harry made sure his mind was fully protected and continued to look forward. Grey mist slowly floated out of the cupboard and remained stagnant for awhile before it started twirling rapidly, beginning to take the shape of something indistinguishable.

"Harry, focus! You don't sense it inside but you need to focus," Hermione reminded him.

Despite not sensing anything in his mind, he strengthened his shields, fixing any cracks or openings he might have. The twirling slowed down and finally stopped, leaving just the greyish mist to float about lazily again. Harry wanted to jump up in joy of his success but restrained, afraid that his momentary lapse in concentration might give the Boggart a chance.

"You can decide what memory to hide and what not to. Reveal a memory to it… any memory," Hermione suggested.

With a shrug, he quickly made up his mind about what to show and slipped the memory out of the safety of his shields. The mist began twirling again and… _CRACK!_ The Boggart turned into Harry and Hermione kissing on the shore of the Lake.

Harry felt Hermione's hand in his and smiled.

"That's really sweet but I think it's enough for today. You got through the test," she told him.

"Riddikulus!" Harry waved his wand. _CRACK!_ Hermione was wearing Luna's radish earrings and her Butterbeer corks with her wand behind her ear. Harry was wearing the horrible dress robe Mrs. Weasley had bought for Ron.

Hermione let out a little laugh and muttered something, flicking her wand and banishing the Boggart back into the closet, which slowly disappeared.

"C'mon, let's take a seat first," she said, taking Harry by the hand to the couch. Once they sat down, Hermione let out a long sigh and fidgeted her hands as if thinking of where she should start. Harry looked at her curiously but waited patiently for her.

"Alright… what I'm going to tell you now isn't pretty and it involves you in… practically everything. So, prepare yourself and take it very seriously," she began.

"Fifteen years ago, when Voldemort's powers were at its height, a prophecy was made… a prophecy concerning Voldemort himself, made by Trelawney to Dumbledore during a job interview. However, it was eavesdropped by a Death Eater before he was discovered and thrown out. The Death Eater told Voldemort what he heard and it started a series of important events."

Harry nodded, indicating her to continue. Hermione's face screwed up in concentration and an odd stone basin with runes around it appeared on the table in front of them.

"What is that thing?" he asked curiously.

"It's a Pensieve. It can store your thoughts so that you can review and reorganize them properly. Its use now is for me to share my memories with you. Alright, let's start with the prophecy then." Putting her wand to her temple, she drew out a silvery strand, which was deposited into the Pensieve. After prodding around the basin with her wand, a figure rose out of it and Harry realized that it was a younger Trelawney, who was speaking in her harsh, hoarse voice Harry had heard her used once before.

_"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies" __JK.Rowling, OotP_

"The one with the power to defeat Voldemort?" Harry asked more to himself than to Hermione.

"Yes. Dumbledore showed it to you last time in our fifth year and you showed it to me afterwards," she confirmed.

"So… it meant me?"

"Well… it could've once meant Neville too, but Dumbledore said something like Voldemort fulfilling the part about marking you as his equal when he tried to kill you," she said quietly.

Not a sound could be heard in the room as Harry tried to take in what he had just heard. "_Me? Defeat Voldemort? And I'm supposed to have the power he knows not…_" Harry wondered to himself quietly.

"Harry? Say… say something. Are you alright?" Hermione asked hesitantly, holding his hand in hers.

"I- I don't know. I just- I mean… I kind of expected my involvement. Why else would you insist so strongly that I train and learn Occlumency? But, this… this is just… too much. _Me? _Have the power Voldemort knows not? It doesn't seem possible. Besides, I have to kill him Hermione! _Kill!_ Do you realize that the prophecy made the fate of the wizarding world rest on my shoulders?! What if I fail?" he burst out urgently.

"Oh Harry, look at me," she said turning his face towards her. "I know this puts a lot on your shoulders but do you remember what I told you in our first year? That you're a great wizard? Well, that is truer now than ever because you really _are_ a great wizard. I believe completely in you and I know you can do it," she reassured him, putting an arm around his shoulder and rubbing it gently.

"You really think so?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course I do. You're going to defeat Voldemort and you're going to live to tell the tale… and I'll be with you every step of the way, just like everyone who loves you will be."

"That means I'm going to have to train harder," Harry sighed. "I thought my life is complicated enough when my name came out of the goblet of fire but that didn't seem too bad anymore compared to this prophecy stuff. Why does it always have to be me?" he groaned.

"I don't know Harry but life has never been fair to us."

"Since the prophecy is already made and Voldemort has fulfilled half of it, I guess I have no choice but to make sure I come out alive, don't I?" Harry sighed, forcing himself to accept the ill-fated prophecy.

Hermione half-smiled and said, "That's the spirit."

"I wonder, though… why didn't Dumbledore tell me before? I mean, I could've started training much earlier to prepare myself," he questioned.

"Well… I'm not so sure. You didn't tell me much about it… just that Dumbledore wanted you to have a carefree and happy childhood," she answered.

"That's a really lame excuse! How did he expect me to fight Voldemort without proper training? Voldemort has years of experience on me!"

"You have to ask him that."

"And I will… after you have told me the rest of your memories," he claimed.

"You want to know everything now? I still have quite a lot to tell, you know… and they're as unpleasant as the prophecy… if not more. We can continue tomorrow," Hermione said as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"No. I want to know everything now."

"But it'll be too much to handle. After all, Dumbledore did spend nearly an entire school year to tell you half of what I'm going to be saying."

"I don't care what Dumbledore did. I want to know now. Please Hermione? Please…" Harry pleaded, putting on a cute puppy-dog look and gently rubbing her arms up and down.

"Argh! Stop using that puppy-dog look! You know I can't resist when you do that," she complained.

Harry didn't answer but continue to look at her with the same expression until Hermione couldn't ignore any longer and caved in. "Oh, alright! But let's have a compromise. I'll tell you what happened until the end of fifth year. I'll tell the rest tomorrow after our morning run. You'll need time to take in everything," she bargained.

"Hermione, don't make it a suspense anymore. I've already waited long enough… and I'm telling you I can handle it. If you think I can't even handle what you're going to tell me, how do you expect me to defeat Voldemort?! Please," he said seriously.

Hermione seemed indecisive and she looked at him suspiciously but her eyes softened when she saw his determined face. "Alright… if you're sure then."

"I'm sure," he confirmed and nodded, indicating her to continue.

And so, she did. She told him everything except their relationship and the son he left behind. She told him bout the fake Moody, about Cedric's death, about Voldemort's resurrection… the Ministry, Umbridge, the Order, Sirius' death, Dumbledore's death, their hunt for the horcruxes, the supposedly final showdown with Voldemort… and finally, about his scar being the unintentional eighth horcrux.

"So… so what happened afterwards? Did Voldemort resurrect himself again?" Harry asked somewhat shakily.

"This is just a theory though but I think you fought his soul fragment out of your body without knowing it. Then the soul fragment possessed Malfoy's body… and we- we were caught unprepared when he ambushed us… and- and-"

"And?"

"And you died," she finished.

Silence reigned between them awkwardly as Harry tried to take in what he had heard. Feeling Hermione's hand in his, her thumb drawing comforting circles on the back of his hand, he looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

Concern and something Harry didn't recognize were written all over her face. She squeezed his hand tighter, saying, "It won't come to that this time. _We_'ll make sure of it."

Harry's heart lightened a little knowing that he would not be alone through all this. He smiled and squeezed her hand back.

"I wonder though… things must've been quite bad after I- died," he said.

A dark expression flashed across Hermione's face. "That's putting it lightly. The Aurors were still recovering from the last battle and nobody wanted to believe Voldemort was back again. He got Death Eater recruitments from overseas and the Ministry fell into his hands in a couple of weeks… then went St. Mungo's. Hogwarts was the last resistance but eventually, it fell too. We did put up a good fight first few years but later we had to run from hideout to hideout. Death Eaters roamed everywhere and they killed people at their whims, raping women, destroying homes. Voldemort also attacked Muggle cities and without enough opposition forces to fight the Death Eaters and obliviate the Muggles, we were exposed… had been for three years when I took the potion."

Tears were now streaming down her face and Hermione clung to Harry's shirt as she cried. Harry just sat there holding her and not knowing what to do since he had never had a crying female in his arms before.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. I promise. We're going to make sure things don't come to that. You said it yourself right?" Harry whispered into her ears, rubbing her back tenderly as her sobs began to subside.

When she finished crying, Hermione looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry I cried all over you. I don't know what came over me," she apologized.

"It's alright. I understand it must've been hard for you… suddenly having all those horrible memories in your head and not having anybody to share with for a long time," he soothed her.

"When did you become so mature?" Hermione teased as she dried up her tears.

Harry just smiled at her and placed a kiss on her temple, holding her to his side. They both stayed that way silently, each lost in thoughts about what had just been revealed.

"So have you thought of any plans to prevent those awful things from happening?" he broke the silence.

"I have some ideas but I need your input as well."

"Alright… but let's do that some other time. You're right in saying that I need time to absorb everything in and accept them. It really is enough for the day," he remarked.

"Nope! You're forgetting _one_ thing," she replied with a cheeky grin.

"Huh? What is it?" he asked confusedly.

"You really don't know?"

Harry shook his head 'no'.

"Aww… poor Harry. Let me tell you then. It involves… this," Hermione cooed and turned Harry's face towards hers, pressing her lips to his.

They spent the next few minutes kissing and finally made their way back to their dormitories. With a reminder from Hermione to practise Occlumency for the night, they parted and Harry collapsed on his bed where he scrutinized the day's events before clearing his thoughts and giving into sleep that claimed him.

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Thanks a lot for reading! Please review? Cheers ) 


	12. Ch11: Weasleys see red

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 11 - Weasleys see red**

xXXXXXx

"WHAT?!!!"

"Hermione and I are going out," Harry repeated.

"Wh- ho-how?!" Ron finally spat out, his face getting as red as his hair.

"We're going out," Harry repeated again.

"YO- YOU CAN'T! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! YOU BETRAYED ME! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!" Ron yelled, moving his arm to punch Harry in the face but being the excellent seeker that he was, Harry ducked, causing Ron to fall over. Hermione gasped beside him and tried to make her way to Ron but Harry held her back, not wanting to expose her to the red head's anger.

As they had agreed the day before, Harry and Hermione were in the Room of Requirement breaking the news about their new relationship to Ron, who did not seem to be taking it very well. Hermione had warned him that Ron might be upset about it at first but he realized now that 'upset' was not the appropriate word to describe their best friend.

"How does the two of us being together qualify as betraying you?" Harry asked.

"You knew I like her!" Ron replied, picking himself up from the ground and glaring at him.

"I didn't know that! How am I supposed to know you like her when all you've done was to quarrel with her and annoy her? If you like somebody, you don't act that way!" Harry retorted, feeling guilt settling in his chest at his half-lie.

When he denied knowing Ron's interest in Hermione, he wasn't being entirely truthful. The truth was that he did suspect the redhead might feel something for their mutual best friend judging from the way he acted in the Yule Ball, but best friend or not, he was not going to step aside and give up Hermione just because Ron liked her. "_If he really likes her, he should be trying to win her affections instead of arguing with her and upsetting her_," he justified himself mentally.

"I DON'T CARE! You have everything! You have the money… you're famous… heck, you're a Triwizard champion! Why did you have to take the girl from me?!" Ron screamed, his face contorting in anger.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Hermione yelled before Harry could open his mouth to reply. "I am not some kind of object or trophy that you can take or own as you want! I am my own person! And I do not like you… more than as a friend!" she told Ron.

"But- but, I thought you like me! You give me chocolates!" Ron sputtered.

"But I told you later that day that I don't like you more than as a friend! And you said you understand!" Hermione retorted somewhat confusedly.

"I thought you were being a girl!" he yelled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked, frowning.

"I just thought you meant the opposite of what you said! I thought you were shy to admit you like me so you tried to cover up your actions," he replied as confusedly as Hermione.

Harry looked at Hermione, whose face had disbelief and annoyance written all over. She released an angry little huff and half-shouted, "Well, you're wrong! I felt and still feel nothing for you except friendship."

Ron looked ready to explode as he glared at her. "You- you- scarlet woman!"

"Don't you dare talk to Hermione that way!" Harry interfered and half-pulled Hermione behind him, shocked that Ron had said something like that to Hermione.

A flicker of guilt crossed his face but it was quickly replaced by his rage once again. "Whatever. Just don't talk to me!" he sneered, banging the door on his way out.

Emotionally drained, the two of them sighed together and threw themselves on the sofa.

"_That_ was what you called a little upset, Hermione?" Harry asked her sarcastically.

"Well… I mistook him for his nineteen-year-old version. He just needs to grow up… and realizes that he shouldn't be jealous of you." Hermione said no more about why Ron should not be jealous of him but Harry had an idea what she meant.

"Do you think he'll come around?" he asked.

"Of course he will. I'm sure of it," Hermione said, holding his hand.

"I do hope he does because I can't handle any more of the emotional strain," he muttered. "Let's talk about something else now… okay… so, how about those ideas you said you have?"

"My ideas to change the events?" she asked. On his nod, she continued. "Alright… here is what I thought. We'll let Crouch Jr. continue until the end of the year-"

"Why?! He's a Death Eater," he burst out.

"Because we can't let Voldemort suspect anything. I have already tipped off Madam Bones about Mr. Crouch so I figure Voldemort is very suspicious right now. If Crouch Jr. is exposed now after half a year of pretending without Dumbledore finding out, it would seem unnatural to Voldemort. We need him to make sure Voldemort is unsuspicious of anything and continues his resurrection plans," she explained.

"We're letting the resurrection go on as before, aren't we?" he spoke quietly.

"Yes. We can't afford to change major events or else everything would become so different from my memories and we won't be able to predict anymore."

"I guess as much. So what about the rest?"

For the rest of the evening, Harry and Hermione were busy discussing and coming up with a plan that would work against Voldemort and finally, after much brainstorming and arguing, they came up with one, which both of them were satisfied with.

They trudged back to the common room and found Ron sulking at a corner. When he saw them, he gave them a glare and went back to his brooding.

Harry sighed sadly and felt Hermione squeezing his arm encouragingly as if to say 'everything will be alright'.

"Why don't we just call it a day and go to bed?" she said.

Smiling at her, he nodded and was leaning down to give her a goodnight kiss when-

"Harry! Hermione! I was looking for you two. Do you know what's wrong with Ron? He came in like that two hours ago and he snapped at me when I asked him what happened," Ginny said.

"Oh… erm- we, well… Hermione and I are going out and Ron had a misund-"

The cold, furious look on Ginny's face cut Harry short.

"Were you laughing at me the whole time?" she suddenly asked Hermione in a cold tone.

Hermione looked at her confusedly and replied, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"DON'T PRETEND YOU DON'T KNOW! I trusted you and confided in you but you were making fun of me!" she yelled.

A look of recognition flashed by Hermione's face and her expression became from completely clueless one second to extremely uncomfortable and mortified in another.

"Ginny, it wasn't like that-"

"Then TELL ME how it really was!"

"I didn't realize my feelings for Harry then."

Harry looked at one girl to another, utterly bewildered about what was going on. They were rapidly gaining the attention of the whole common room.

"THAT'S RUBBISH!" Ginny said harshly. "You were probably thinking of snagging him all this time!"

"Ginny… can we just go somewhere else to talk? People are already staring," Hermione reasoned.

"So let them! Let them know that you're a backstabbing BITCH!" she yelled, drawing gasps from the onlookers.

But the redhead continued with a vengeance, "You tricked me and told me some crap about going out with other guys. Maybe you tried that yourself and failed, huh? You were using my brother and flirting with him to make Harry jealous, weren't you?"

"Can you two please stop and tell me what's going on?" Harry intercepted.

"Harry, don't think _she_ is such a saint! She's an evil little liar!" Ginny spat out.

Turning back to Hermione, he waited for her to say something in rebuttal and noticed, at the corner of his eyes, that everyone else was also listening eagerly to what she had to say.

Hermione seemed like she was near tears but her face hardened and she said in a firm voice, "You can think whatever you want Ginny but I'm telling the truth. I swear on my magic that I didn't realize my feelings for Harry at that time. I wasn't trying to make fun of you or trick you. Whether or not you believe is for you to decide."

Having said that, she quickly turned around and walked up the stairs to her dormitory.

"I decide NOT to believe you!" Ginny yelled after her.

"Hermione, wait!" Harry called and ran after her, forgetting about the ward on the girl's staircase in his haste.

"Damn it! How do I get pass those stairs?" he asked no one in particular. Everyone, realizing that the show was over, started whispering to their friends.

"Can you all just go back to your own business?!" he snapped, feeling annoyed.

As he could apparently assume from the fight, Hermione and Ginny probably had a conversation about him. "_Maybe about how to get me as a boyfriend_," he wondered silently to himself and frowned at the thought of it.

But did Hermione really do what Ginny accused her of? Definitely not! When Hermione said she didn't do it, then she didn't and Harry believed her. She was not that type of person and it just was not possible that she would do it deliberately to Ginny. So was Ginny's anger justifiable? What had been said between them which made her so furious?

"_I have a right to know… after all, it is about me. I guess I'll have to wait until morning… Hermione isn't coming down and I don't feel comfortable asking Ginny_," he thought.

"Hermione, I'll see you tomorrow. We'll talk later okay? Sleep tight!" he called after her, hoping that she would hear him. He was already half way up to the boy's dormitory when her soft voice stopped him.

"Harry? Can we talk now? If not, I won't be able to sleep the whole night."

xXXXXXx

_**:: FLASHBACK ::**_

_Hermione was lying on the bed in Ginny's room in the Burrow, ready to go to sleep so that she would be up early for tomorrow's train ride back to Hogwarts._

"_Hermione? Are you asleep yet?" came Ginny's voice from the bed opposite her._

"_Not yet. Why?"_

"_I- I just want to talk to you about something… about Harry to be specific."_

"_Oh?"_

"_Do you like him?"_

"_What?" Hermione asked, confused by her question._

"_Do you like Harry? In a romantic way."_

"_Of course I like him. He's my best friend and we're close… but not in- in- _that_ way, I guess. I just worry so much about him because he always tends to get into trouble somehow," Hermione replied._

"_So you really don't like him _that_ way?" the redhead asked again._

"_No, I don't."_

"_Good," said Ginny. Hermione frowned but kept quiet, waiting for Ginny to continue._

"_You know how I have a crush on him since I was very young, right? I like him even more now and since you're his best friend, I was wondering maybe you can give me some pointers on what kind of girl he likes," Ginny explained._

_Although she was surprised, Hermione concealed the surprise in her voice when she answered. She had previously thought that Ginny had gotten over her crush on Harry._

"_I don't know… we don't really talk about that kind of stuff," she answered evasively. She didn't understand why but talking about Harry's love life to another girl made her very uncomfortable._

"_Aww… c'mon, Hermione. You must know… even if it is a tiny little bit. You said it yourself, he's close to you."_

"_Yes, he is but I told you we didn't talk about that stuff. If you go ask him what kind of boy I like, he also wouldn't know," Hermione reasoned._

_She heard Ginny muttering something which sounded a lot like 'Ron' under her breath but she let it go._

"_Please Hermione… at least tell me whether he has his eyes set on anybody for now," Ginny nagged._

_Heaving a long sigh, Hermione replied, "Alright… I think he might like Cho Chang. He didn't tell me specifically or anything. I just observed him."_

"_Really? Cho Chang? The Ravenclaw seeker?"_

"_Yes."_

_Ginny sighed. "But Cho is very pretty and popular. How can I compete with someone like that?"_

_Hermione's frown deepened. "Honestly speaking, you won't get Harry to notice you if you act like a fan girl. You need to be more like yourself… relax around him and… I don't know- move on to other guys?" she suggested._

"_There's no way I'm moving on to other guys from Harry! He's such a hero! And he saved me!" Ginny exclaimed hotly._

"_Harry's not as much as a hero everyone makes him-"_

"_Yes he is!" came Ginny's firm statement and Hermione realized it was time to stop the conversation. Forcing thoughts of Harry out of her head, she let sleep claim her for the night._

_**::END FLASHBACK::**_

As the memory ended, Hermione slowly brought her mental shields up, gently pushing Harry out of her mind.

"So, that was the memory?" Harry asked.

She nodded. Hermione had let Harry use Legilimency on her to view the particular memory. They were sitting in at a deserted corner of the common room after Hermione had sent all those starting at them by a death glare that could rival that of McGonagall's. But for good measure, she put up a few privacy charms.

"You didn't mean to do those things Ginny accused you of," Harry stated.

"Of course not! Did you doubt it before that I would do-"

"No! No! Of course not," he ensured. "I never doubted for one second that you're that kind of person."

She smiled approvingly and squeezed his hand.

"But why is Ginny so angry at you? She should've known you would never do such things. She could've confronted you in private instead of in the common room for the whole Gryffindor house to see," Harry wondered.

"Think about it this way – how would you feel if the friend, whom you thought was helping you, suddenly dates this girl you like without telling you?"

"I'd be pissed," he answered.

"Exactly! Besides, she's a Weasley… they could never control their anger."

"You know, Hermione… you never seem to stop amazing me. I wouldn't be as calm and as sympathetic about it as you are now," he said.

"It's not as if I'm happy she yelled at me in front of the entire house… I'm very upset but I'm just trying to understand her. I may look calm but I don't feel calm at all. In fact, I'm feeling-" Hermione stopped herself before she could say another word.

"You're feeling?" he prompted her to continue.

Hermione didn't reply but studied Harry carefully for a moment. She couldn't believe this fallout with Ginny was having such an effect on her. She couldn't believe she was reliving her teenage insecurities. She thought she had matured considerably and had gotten past them unlike in the past timeline but she was wrong. Hermione wondered if she should deal with them right now… with Harry. Would he help her relieve them? Could she trust him to tell him about them?

"Hermione?" Harry's voice shook her out of her thought. He seemed very worried about her and she knew what she should do the minute she saw Harry's concerned face.

"Harry," she began, "do you realize I never told you anything about our relationships that happened in the previous timeline? Did you even wonder why?"

"I noticed. I was meaning to ask you. Why are you bringing it up now?" he questioned.

She didn't answer his question but continued her own story, "Last time, we didn't get together until we were nineteen, you know. We were on a hunt for the horcruxes and we got much closer than before, finally realizing our feelings for each other. But the thing is… you had two girlfriends before me – Cho Chang and… Ginny-"

"Ginny?!! But she's Ron's sister!" Harry said, his mouth agape with surprise and shock.

"I'm well aware of it, Harry," Hermione replied seriously. "But what I'm trying to say here is that- that I might have… forced myself on you-"

"Forced yourself on me?! Hermione, are you nuts?" he burst out incredulously.

"Hush… listen to me first. What I want to say is that… it's hard to put into words. I- what if you're supposed to be together first with Ginny or Cho? What if you're supposed to find happiness with them? But I went and led you astray from your path by making my moves on you like asking you to the Ball and the Valentine's date… and I know I'm not pretty like them, or athletic-"

Before she could continue rambling, Harry stopped her by putting a finger on her mouth. "Do you really think that way?" he asked firmly yet softly.

"I- I-"

"Yes or no, Hermione."

"Yes," she answered, sighing and resting her face in her hands. "I know it's petty to be worried about these things when there're more important things. I'm sorry."

"Look at me, Hermione," he said, cupping her cheeks and lifting her face to meet his gaze. "Cho was just a pretty face in the crowd that stood out and it was just a teenage crush… and Ginny… I can't even understand what my past self was thinking when he… or rather I dated Ginny. All I could say is that I probably was immature and wasn't thinking with my head… or my heart. You've got nothing to worry about okay? Ginny is just like a little sister to me."

"Really?"

"Yes," he answered sincerely.

"So are you happy with me?"

"Definitely… and what you said about you not being pretty? You're right. You're not pretty… because you're beautiful, in your own way. Your beauty is deeper, subtler and purer… something not even Fleur Delacour can rival. You're smart… the brightest witch of our age. You're kind… like you're to Neville. You're passionate about things you believe in, like S.P.E.W. And most important of all, you're my best friend and you understand me. You care for me and worry yourself sick about me. So, don't you dare think for one second that you're not pretty because you are beautiful, both inside and out."

Hermione was so touched by his little speech that she threw herself into his arms. After giving him a couple of kisses all over his face, she calmed down enough to compose herself.

"Oh Harry… that was the sweetest thing you've ever said to me. Where did you learn how to comfort women like that?" she cooed as she curled up in his lap.

"I- I don't know really. It just came out of my mouth… just like that," he replied shyly, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

Hermione just clung onto him tighter and said, "I think you've earned yourself a few points, Mr. Potter."

"Really? What do I get for earning those points?"

"How about a kiss?" he said, trailing kisses along her temple. They spent the next few minutes kissing before going back to just snuggling on the couch.

"Hermione?" Harry broke the silence after some time.

"Hmm?"

"You told me about my girlfriends. What about you? Did you have any boyfriends before me?" he asked tentatively.

"Well… kind of…"

"How can you kind of have a boyfriend?" he asked confusedly. "And who was that guy?"

"It was Ron-"

"Ron?!!"

"Yes, Ron. He asked me out and I said yes but we were already on our horcrux hunt so I focused more on the important things than my relationship with him. Besides, since you were with us and you had just broken up with Ginny that time, we decided not to show our affections in front of you. So, Ron was more like a very close friend than a boyfriend except for a few goodnight kisses when you were asleep," she explained, drawing tracing meaningless patterns on his chest.

He frowned. "I still find it hard to believe it's Ron. I mean, how could you like him? No offence to Ron but you two were always arguing!"

She sighed. "I was young and stupid. I've always felt differently for you than for Ron but I thought what I felt for you was just merely worry because you always get yourself into those tricky situations. So, I assumed that my feelings for Ron must be romantic in nature since it was different from my feelings for you. Besides, there were those stupid romance novels that said some crap like 'opposites attract' so I pined after him for so long and suffered so much while he couldn't pull his face away from Lavender's to notice me. Thank god I finally realized it was you that I loved."

Harry tensed when she said 'love' but Hermione didn't notice her slip up and continued tracing patterns.

"Oh, that's… good," he said awkwardly, not wanting Hermione to realize her slip up. The word had a warm, fuzzy effect on his chest but he let it pass. The two of them fell asleep peacefully in each other arms.

xXXXXXx

February ended and March brought nothing special with it. Harry and Hermione had finally discussed how they should deal with Dumbledore and whether or not he should be let in on the secret. They finally agreed on a course of action and patiently waited for the right time.

Everything else went relatively peacefully except for some gossiping, whispering and staring at Hermione by the entire student body including some Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. Ginny glared at Hermione every chance she got but Ron seemed to just ignore them, hanging out with Seamus and Dean but mostly by himself.

Thus, Hermione was pleasantly surprised when Harry mentioned to her that he saw Ron and Luna together on the Marauder's Map.

"That's really good news!" she told him happily.

"Erm… I'm glad Ron is spending time with somebody instead of being alone but why are you so happy about it?"

"Oh Harry, Luna fancies him!"

"Really? I mean, I did notice but I thought she was just being… Luna."

"If somebody can make Ron see reason, it's Luna. I'm really glad they're hanging out," she gushed happily as she ate her breakfast.

Harry looked at her weirdly as if she had grown an extra head. "Luna can make him see reason?" he asked.

"Absolutely! I know you think Luna is… well- Luna, but she's a Ravenclaw and a very special Ravenclaw. Besides, it means I won't have to worry about Ron failing his classes since I couldn't help him anymore."

He looked sceptical but nodded his head and went back to his breakfast but not before glancing at Ron who was sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table.

"When are we going to Hogsmeade, Harry?" Hermione asked, reading the Daily Prophet which had just been delivered to her.

"I was thinking of going at lunch time. We can eat at The Three Broomsticks and then meet Sirius," he whispered the last part.

Sirius had written to him a few days ago, telling him to meet him at the edge of Hogsmeade at two o'clock on that Hogsmeade weekend and to bring as much food as he could. He was very worried that Sirius might get caught but Hermione ensured him that he would not.

"Have you asked Dobby to pack the foods?" Hermione whispered inconspicuously as she leaned towards Harry to take the pumpkin juice.

"Yeah, he said it's ready. We just need to go and take it before we leave."

After breakfast, they retreated to the common room to complete the weekend homework the professors had given. Harry's stomach grumbled loudly when it was lunch time so, they made their way to Hogsmeade after taking the foods from Dobby, shrinking them and putting them in their pocket.

The Three Broomstick was packed with students but they managed to find a table at a corner. After placing their orders, they looked around and saw Ron and Ginny sitting with Luna and… Neville, who smiled and waved at them but the atmosphere was tense when Ron and Ginny turned around and saw who they were. Luna remained absolutely oblivious to what was going on and engaged Ron in a conversation, which seemed to dissolve the tension somewhat.

"Hey Hermione, do you think Neville could be good for Ginny?" he asked.

"Neville? Maybe… he's kind of cute," she replied with a grin.

"Hey! Your boyfriend is sitting right here," he teased.

"Aww… don't worry. I think you're cuter."

"Seriously though, do you think Neville can make her get over me?" Harry questioned.

"Like I said… maybe. Neville is a great guy… very brave too. He just needs to gain a bit of confidence."

"I was thinking if we should start something like the D.A. you mentioned. Not this year but maybe next year, you know… depending on the Professor," he suggested.

"I think that would be a great idea. One thing for sure… it'll help Neville gain the confidence he needs. Besides, clubs like that will help increase house unity," she agreed.

They ate their lunches and finally made their way to the place Sirius had told them to come, where they found Padfoot and followed him to a cave in a nearby mountain.

Padfoot changed back to Sirius, who gave Harry a manly hug and patted Hermione's back in greeting. They saw Buckbeak at the back of the cave and decided to let the beast be.

"Did you bring any foods?" he asked eagerly as they sat down on the cave floor.

"Yeah," they said, taking out all the shrunken package of foods and enlarging them back to their normal size.

"Great! Finally some good food to eat," he said happily, immediately grabbing a chicken drumstick to eat.

Harry and Hermione smiled.

"Where's the other boy? Ron?" he asked.

"Well… we just had a bit of a quarrel with him. So he's not talking to us right now," Harry answered.

"I thought you three were best friends," Sirius stated.

"We were and I still hope we are but you see… Hermione and I started dating a few weeks back and Ron wasn't too happy about it," Harry explained.

Sirius howled with laughter. "Oh, love triangle! I can't believe my godson involved in a love triangle," he teased.

Harry and Hermione's glares reduced his laughter to chuckles and he had a big grin on his face. "Congratulations, you two!"

"Thanks," they both replied.

"Alright… putting all those aside, does anything else happen?" Sirius asked.

He listened carefully as they told him about the second task. They talked about how Crouch was rescued from the hands of unknown dark wizards and Sirius told them the long history of Crouch Sr. in his glory days – about how he sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial and about throwing his son to Azkaban. Despite already knowing all those, Harry and Hermione pretended to hear them for the first time.

"Sirius, do you have a house before you were sent to Azkaban?" Harry asked.

"I ran off from home when I was sixteen… went and lived with your father, but to answer your question, I believe I still own my ancestral home somewhere in London," he answered.

"Why don't you live there instead of hiding out here? It should be loads better, isn't it?" Hermione quipped, realizing where Harry was going with the conversation.

"I swore to myself I wouldn't return to that house after I ran away."

"But Sirius, that was when you were sixteen. I also think you really should stay there instead of here. You'll have less risk of getting caught and you can live more comfortably. Besides, I can even come and stay with you during the summer," Harry said.

"Harry, you don't know my family. The house is full of dark arts! You can't possibly stay there!" Sirius exclaimed.

"So what? You can renovate it any time you want," Harry replied.

Sirius looked conflicted. "I want to be near you Harry, at least until the Tournament is finished."

"But you can't see Harry even if he's near. But if you stay in a proper house, we can have Dumbledore connect a secure floo network to it," Hermione suggested.

"I'll think about it," Sirius replied.

"Tell us after you have," Harry reminded, effectively closing the conversation.

"Alright, I think you two should go now. It must already be late," Sirius said.

"Wait! I've been thinking about something lately and I need to ask you. What do you think about us becoming Animagi?" Harry asked.

Both Sirius and Hermione looked at him with surprise in their eyes.

"Harry, becoming an Animagus is not an easy process. It needs a lot of effort," Sirius answered. "Why don't you just concentrate on the Tournament for now, Harry?"

"Exactly!" Hermione agreed wholeheartedly.

"I'm not talking about right now. I'm talking about next year… after the Tournament," Harry reasoned.

"You really want to be an Animagus?" Sirius asked, tearing into a loaf of bread.

"Yeah! I'll be like you and dad!" Harry answered enthusiastically.

"If you can succeed, it'll be great but promise me not to try anything before the Tournament," Sirius conceded.

"I'd be crazy to do something like that with the Tournament going on," Harry agreed with a big grin.

Hermione let out a sigh, relieved that Harry was sensible enough not to do something like that. She needed him to focus his attention on what was going to happen at the end of the school year. But Harry's eagerness was infectious and she herself was beginning to get interested. Besides, Hermione couldn't just ignore and stay without helping Harry in something he might need her help.

"Do you remember the books you used? I want to read up on it," Hermione asked Sirius.

"I don't remember the names but practically every book on Transfiguration in the library… including the restricted section," he stated.

"You and Harry's father didn't have anybody guiding you all so you have to read everything but with you guiding us, I don't think we need to read that much," she reasoned.

"I'm not sure if I can be there to guide you two," he said sadly.

"If there's a will, there's a way," Harry said mysteriously.

That marked the end of their visit and the two of them left for the castle after saying goodbye to Sirius and reminding him not to get caught.

* * *

I thank all my readers and reviewers! Please leave a review if you may. Cheers:) 


	13. Ch12: Confrontations

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

**Important: The story will have some facts from Deathly Hallows from now on. So if you have not read it yet, please come back after you have!** I'm not making it completely DH compliant... just using some parts that I like such as Dumbledore's and Snape's pasts.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 12 - Confrontations  
**

xXXXXXx

"Excellent, Mr. Potter! Five points to Gryffindor!" Professor McGonagall said approvingly.

They were in Transfiguration class and Harry had been the second person after Hermione to successfully transfigure a toad into a mouse.

Hermione beamed happily at him and he felt his heart swell a little. Ever since Ron stopped talking to them, Harry was spending all his free time with Hermione and he must admit it was very pleasurable in one way or the other. They spent their time training, doing their homework, occasionally kissing or just being in each other's presence.

She had rubbed off so much on him that he was already doing his homework right after it was assigned and he had also started reading in advance for his classes. Of course, it did not hurt that she would bribe him with incentives, which involved several snogging sessions in the Room of Requirement.

As the bell rang, indicating the end of the class, students quickly stuffed their things into their bags, getting ready to get to lunch. Hermione gave him a nod, which he returned, and both of them made their way to their Transfiguration Professor.

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry called.

Their Head of House looked up, surprised to see her favourite students (although she would never admit she had favourites) standing in front of her desk. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, what can I help you with?" she asked.

"We would like to talk to Professor Dumbledore tonight in his office. Can you inform him about it?" Harry said.

She gave them a questioning stare but nodded nonetheless, "Very well. I will inform him then."

"Erm… Professor? How about the password?" Hermione asked.

"Mars bar."

"Excuse me?"

"The password… it's Mars bar."

"Mars Bar? The Muggle candy?"

"Is that what it means? Well, I could never figure out what Albus' passwords were sometimes . Now, I know why. Alright… off you go then. Your lunch awaits you!" McGonagall replied.

Harry and Hermione headed to the Great Hall for lunch. It had been two weeks since they visited Sirius in his cave and he had finally written to them and agreed to move into Grimmauld Place. Harry and Hermione realized that there was no point in delaying their talk with the Headmaster any longer and decided that now was the right time to have their intended talk with him. Besides, Harry had decided that he wanted to include Sirius in confronting Dumbledore about his accommodation during the summer. Their other motive was to obtain the Slytherin Locket; they were worried that Sirius might throw it away when he started renovating the house.

As they sat down at their usual places at the Gryffindor table, they noticed Ron sitting with Dean and Seamus and Harry felt saddened by the loss of his first friendship.

As if sensing Harry's feelings, Hermione gave his hand a squeeze and said, "I'm sure he'll come around. He always does." Harry nodded and steered his gaze away from his redhead friend.

While Ron was ignoring his friends, Ginny, on the other hand, was doing her best to spread malicious rumours about Hermione and made rude comments to her whenever the two girls passed by each other in the hallways or in the common room. Being the mature one of the pair, Hermione took it in stride and always ignored the younger girl, saying it was partly her fault that Ginny was acting this way but Harry knew better. He knew how some of Ginny's insults hurt Hermione and reminded her of her past insecurities. The youngest Weasley also hinted to Harry everyday that he should leave Hermione and go out with her instead, which annoyed him to no end.

He must admit he was surprised, or more likely… shocked by Ginny's change in behaviour. It was as if her spat with Hermione had changed her into a completely different person. Or perhaps her fieriness was already waiting inside of her to break free and her fight with Hermione acted as a catalyst. Whatever the reason was, he could not help but remembered the quiet and timid Ginny, who was too shy to talk to him, and honestly speaking, he preferred that girl to the Ginny who threw scathing remarks at Hermione every chance she got.

"Hello Harry," said Ginny from behind him, shaking Harry out of his musing.

Sighing inwardly, he concentrated on the chicken on his plate and tried his best to ignore her but Ginny was determined to get a response from him.

"I must say, Harry, that it surprises me to still see you with _her_. Hasn't she bored you enough yet? After all, she's just an unattractive, boring bookworm," Ginny said seductively.

He clenched his fists but took a deep breath, forcing down his fury, which was ready to burst free. Had Ginny been a guy, Harry was certain that she would already be in the Hospital wing for saying such offensive things to Hermione. He hoped Ginny would just stop all the childish yet hurtful things she was doing and go back to being the sweet, vivacious girl she used to be.

"Tell me Hermione, maybe you've been using your brains to fit your needs and feeding Harry love potions huh?" she taunted.

Harry tried to take another calming breath and beside him, he felt rather than saw Hermione flinching slightly from the insult and something inside him snapped. He did not care what Ginny said to him but he had had enough of her hurting Hermione's feelings. He would not take it anymore! Banging his fist on the table, he stood up quickly and fixed his blazing stare at Ginny, who was shocked by his sudden display of temper.

The Great Hall turned so quiet that he could hear a pin drop. Everyone, even the Professors, was now looking at them curiously, wanting to know what Harry's reaction to weeks of one-sided insults would be.

Hermione tugged on his hand and hissed, "Harry, what are you doing? Sit down!"

After squeezing her hand in reassurance, he let go of it but did not sit down.

"We are going to have a talk. Now!" he said tightly in a cold, steely voice, which sent shivers down the back of the people around them.

He walked out of the Great Hall with a dazed Ginny in tow, leaving the Great Hall in silence.

xXXXXXx

Hermione stared at Harry's receding back in amazement. She was utterly astounded that her mild-mannered boyfriend, who hated the spotlight, caused a scene in front of the entire school. When she saw Ron walking out of the Great Hall to follow his sister, she knew she had to go after them before any of them said or did anything that they would regret later.

As quickly as she could, she got out of her seat and rushed after her friends, ignoring the whispers that broke out as soon as she stepped out of the Hall. She quickly caught up with Ron, who looked torn between ignoring her and talking to her about what just happened. Ignoring each other, they continued walking until they heard Harry and Ginny talking in an empty classroom.

"…understand why you would date her! She's not attractive! She's not sportive! She's just… just Hermione!" Ginny said, spitting out her name as if it was a foul word. Hermione briefly wondered why Ginny stopped using some insulting terms to address her. Perhaps Harry warned the girl against it.

"If you want your question about Hermione answered, you need to answer my questions first," she heard Harry say.

Letting out a sigh silently, she was glad that Harry was controlling his temper and handling the situation in an adult manner. She was so pleased with Harry's actions that she almost did not see Ron reaching out to open the door. She quickly grabbed his hand at the last minute.

"Give him five minutes," she whispered seriously. "Please."

Ron studied her carefully before he finally nodded.

"Alright. What do you want to ask me?" Ginny said inside the room.

"Why do you like me? Why do you think you would be a better girlfriend for me than Hermione is?" Harry asked.

"Because I've known you since I was four years old and I've always liked you since then. Hermione… she's- she just knew you three years ago and- and she pretended to be uninterested in you so that you would fall for her trap. Besides, you're a hero. A hero needs a girl who can support him and uphold his image… certainly not somebody like Hermione!"

Hermione wanted so much at that moment to burst inside and argue with the redhead about some of the claims she made but refrained, waiting to hear Harry's response to it.

"Okay, it seems like a sound argument from your point of view but I have something to say about it. You said you've known me since you were four but if you really know me, you would never say I'm a hero. Because I'm not a hero… I do _not_ want to be a hero and Hermione knows it.

It's true Hermione knew me only three years ago and yes, she first learned of the name Harry Potter only when she read those books before she came to Hogwarts… but she knows me beyond the title the books have bestowed upon me. You only know the Boy-Who-Lived but she knows both the Boy-Who-Lived and Harry because she knows me here."

Although she could not see what Harry meant by 'here', Hermione smiled nevertheless. She chanced a look at Ron whose face was rather guarded. She had expected to see rage and jealousy but his expression was neutral and even slightly… remorseful?

"…done some stupid things to save my neck despite her better judgement," Harry continued. "I was a complete prat to her about the Firebolt last year but she forgave me. When nobody else believed me, she did. You still think I somehow put my name into the goblet, don't you?"

"Well, I-"

"And she supports me better than anybody else in this whole world. And she's beautiful. So, if you're waiting for me to break up with her, it's not going to happen any time soon… in fact, you'll be waiting for a lifetime."

"I- I didn't know you feel so strongly for her," Ginny finally said. "But that has nothing to do with the fact that she lied to me and betrayed my trust!"

"Ginny, she really didn't know at that time that she has feelings for me. She didn't mean to trick you or betray you or whatever it is that you're thinking. I know Hermione as well as I know myself and she would never, never do such things especially to a friend. I suggest you please stop all those insults and rumours about Hermione because I will not tolerate them any longer," Harry stated rather firmly.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other, both eager to know Ginny's answer.

"I don't feel particularly happy doing those things to her either but I was just so angry… still am actually. But I'll stop… because you ask me to. That doesn't mean I've forgiven her or want to be friends with her again. I don't know how long it'll take me to do that," Ginny said.

"I don't expect you to do that so soon as well. All I ask is you try."

"Alright."

"Well, now that we've both… made ourselves clear, erm- let's get back to our lunch," Harry said.

Hermione and Ron realized too late that they had to move if they did not want to be caught eavesdropping. Before they could move away, the door opened, revealing Harry and Ginny in front of them.

Harry looked at her, raising his eyebrows in amusement and Hermione coloured a little. Ginny glared at the two eavesdroppers before bumping her shoulders into Hermione's and walking off.

Hermione was about to walk away herself but realized that the two boys were not moving at all. They were staring at each other before Ron looked away.

"Listen, I- erm- I realized that I was acting like a prat the past few weeks and- and even though it takes me so long to say it… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you of anything Harry, and Hermione, I'm sorry I called you awful names. I didn't mean it. It was just- I was selfish and immature. I see that now. Can you- can you two forgive me?" Ron said timidly.

Laughing happily, Hermione threw her arms around an unexpected Ron, who awkwardly patted her back.

"Oh Ron, you're a jerk. We know it… but we're still your friends!" she said, tearing up a little.

She released him and looked at Harry, who was still staring at Ron with a blank expression. She could tell Ron was nervous but he looked at Harry expectantly, whose blank expression was slowly turning into a big grin. Harry laughed and gave Ron a manly one-armed hug and thumped him on the back.

"No more attempts to hit me okay?" Harry teased.

They all laughed heartily, and Hermione knew everything would be fine, even if it was for the time being.

xXXXXXx

"Well, actually Luna was the one who knocked some sense into me," Ron said as the three of them sat in the common room before their dinner.

"We know," Hermione replied, smirking at him.

"You know? How?"

"I saw you with her a couple of times on the Marauder's Map," Harry answered.

"Oh. Who would've thought I would listen to Luna Lovegood of all people, huh?" Ron chuckled slightly and continued, "She just seemed to appear out of nowhere whenever I was alone… and well, I tried to ignore her but she was kind of hard to ignore, you know. So, I ended up listening to her. I found her… very weird at first but now, I think her nargles and snorkacks are absolutely hilarious!"

"I told you Luna is a nice girl," Hermione chastised lightly, smirking.

"Hey, I'm not saying otherwise. She's a very nice person but… brutally honest with what she says. She made me realize what a foolish prat I'd been," Ron said, wincing a bit.

"So, you like her?" Hermione asked bluntly.

"Of course I do… I told you she's a nice person."

"No, I meant as in… do you _like_ her?" Hermione stressed on the work 'like'.

Ron looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on his face. "Wh-what?! No! No, of course not! I- uhh- s-she's a really nice girl. It's just that… I- I don't know," Ron finished lamely.

"Well, you should find out if you don't know then," she said bossily, looking at Harry for support but he had a strange expression on his face.

"You still like Hermione, don't you?" he asked quietly.

Hermione turned towards Ron with an aghast stare, making him squirm uncomfortably.

"Ron… you don't like me anymore, right? Tell me! Tell Harry he's wrong!"

The redhead appeared hesitant and sighed. "Hermione, the point is… I'm not sure myself. I thought I liked you, but Luna, and partly Harry, made me reconsider my supposed feelings. If I like you, why do I always argue with you? Why do I always end up hurting your feelings? I- I'm just confused about it right now."

Uncomfortable silence stretched between the three friends after Ron's confession about his feelings until Hermione finally spoke. "Ron, I'm sorry for the wrong signals I might've sent out. I- I was lacking in experience. And I'm also sorry I can't help you now. You have to sort out your own feelings."

"I know, Hermione…"

"Maybe Luna will be more helpful… after all, she's a very perceptive person," she added.

Before another awkward silence reigned, Harry quickly spoke up, "Let's go for our dinner. Hermione and I have to see Dumbledore afterwards."

xXXXXXx

Two Gryffindors quietly made their way to the Headmaster's Office, deep in thought about what they were going to undertake.

"Mars Bar," Harry spoke out as they reached the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's Office.

Going up the stairs, they were going to knock on the door when Dumbledore's voice called out, "Come in!"

Harry and Hermione entered and were greeted by Dumbledore's merrily twinkling eyes.

"Harry, Miss Granger, please take a seat!" Dumbledore said.

"Professor, Hermione and I do not wish to have our conversation here," Harry stated without taking the offered seat.

If Dumbledore was surprised, he did not show it but continued to smile serenely at them.

"I'm sure you're aware of Padfoot's recent relocation?" Harry asked. Seeing Dumbledore's nod, he continued, "I would like to have tonight's conversation in his presence."

"Harry, I do not believe it is a wise action."

"Professor, you know I would not request this unless it's important," Harry reasoned.

For several moments, Dumbledore looked at Harry intently with his piercing blue eyes and when he did not look down, the Headmaster finally said, "Very well then. I assume Miss Granger is included as well?"

Harry nodded.

"Fawkes wouldn't mind giving us a lift… would you, Fawkes? It is the safest way to travel," Dumbledore said.

Fawkes gave a small chirp, showing his consent. Dumbledore and Harry held onto his tail feather with Hermione clutching Harry's hand. With a feeling of weightlessness that came and went away rapidly, Harry found himself in a dark, dingy room, which looked like a kitchen. He looked around and realized that the house was as dilapidated as Hermione had mentioned.

"Sirius?" he called.

"Sirius, are you there?" he tried again. "It's us, Harry and Hermione. We're here with Dumbledore."

"What's your patronus, Harry?" said a voice from the doorway.

The three occupants of the room turned around to see Sirius Black standing there, holding a dagger at ready position.

"It's a stag… or would you rather call it Prongs?" Harry replied.

Sirius smiled and enveloped his godson in a hug, who was eager to return the hug with one of his own. Hermione was greeted with a brief hug of her own and Dumbledore received a respectful nod from the Animagus.

"What brings you here Harry? What's wrong?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"I'm not in any kind of trouble if that's what you're asking!" Harry replied cheekily, earning grins from his godfather and girlfriend. "I just want to talk to Dumbledore about something important and I want you to be with us for that," he continued to explain.

Sirius nodded. "Why don't we all take a seat then?"

They all sat around the dining table and Hermione spoke for the first time before anybody else did.

"Sirius, do you have a house-elf here?" she asked interestedly.

"Yeah, I found a batty, old house-elf when I got here. Why?"

"Erm… can you tell the elf to keep our visit here a secret and not to eavesdrop on our conversation?" Hermione asked, making Dumbledore look at her with mild interest.

"Sure, anything the lady wants!" Sirius winked at her.

"You're not hitting on my girlfriend, are you Padfoot?" Harry joked, causing Sirius and Dumbledore to laugh and Hermione to blush slightly.

"You've got competition now Harry," Sirius retorted good-naturedly, winking at Hermione again before he called, "Kreacher!"

A very old house-elf popped in front of them, muttering, "Mudblood and Half-blood! Mistress be devastated if she is living."

Ignoring the elf's mutterings, Sirius said, "Kreacher, you're not to tell anybody about our visitors here and you're not to listen in our conversation. Is that clear?"

Kreacher stared at the kitchen floor and continued to grumble loudly about Mudbloods.

"DO YOU HEAR ME?" Sirius yelled.

"Yes, Master."

"Good! Now, get out of the room!"

After Kreacher walked out of the room, Sirius looked at them and sighed. "He's very much in love with my family's ideals."

"Be kind to him, Sirius. He has been taught to be this way all his life," Dumbledore said. "Now, let us attend to the reason of our visit here tonight. What is it that you want to talk about Harry?"

"My accommodation during summer," Harry answered simply.

"Now that Sirius is living in a house, you want to join him," Dumbledore stated.

"Yes, I do."

"But I must strongly advise you against doing so. Your mother's blood provides protection only at your aunt's house and you need to renew the protection every year, Harry," Dumbledore said in a grandfatherly tone.

"I'm aware of that and to be frank, I don't care!" Harry retorted briskly.

Both Dumbledore and Sirius looked mildly surprised at Harry's tone but remained quiet, letting Harry continue.

"We can place several protective wards here in addition to the Fidelius Charm that we're planning to cast. Besides, blood wards aren't always infallible. But the main point here is that I want to stay where I'm welcomed! Not in a place where I'm treated worse than vermin!"

"Harry, you need to-"

"No, Professor! As my Headmaster, you do not have the authority to decide my summer accommodation! I don't even know why you send me to the Dursleys in the first place!"

"Yes, Dumbledore. I've wanted to ask you the same thing. I know James and Lily's will didn't mention anybody apart from myself and Wormtail as guardians but you could've placed Harry with a wizarding family! Most would be more than delighted to take him!" Sirius interrupted.

"Harry, Sirius… I must repeat this again. Lily's sacrifice invoked a very strong protection but it only works when Harry is placed with his blood relatives. The Death Eaters were still at large at that time and I had to take action to protect young Harry," Dumbledore explained, his usual twinkle noticeably absent.

Sirius looked sceptical but Harry's face betrayed nothing. He glanced at Hermione and nodded.

"Professor, may I ask you a question?" Hermione began. At Dumbledore's nod, she continued, "Are you aware that Harry's relatives mistreat him? Do you know that they hate everything that has to do with magic before placing Harry with them? Or do you just simply drop him there because it's easy?"

Dumbledore's eyes widened before he quickly masked his shock. "Miss Granger, I was informed that the Dursleys are not the best Muggles but I would not say Harry was mistreated. He just had a strict upbringing."

"STRICT UPBRINGING?!!" Harry exploded. "DO YOU CALL LIVING IN A CUPBOARD A STRICT UPBRINGING? DO YOU CALL BEING DEPRIVED OF FOOD A STRICT UPBRINGING? Or being beat up by Dudley and his gang? Or being whipped by Vernon? Or doing housework like a slave?"

Harry was breathing heavily, glaring at Dumbledore, who had a gobsmacked expression on his face. Hermione grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, which relaxed Harry a little.

Dumbledore as well as Sirius were rendered speechless by the revelation.

"I- I- Mrs. Figg never told me about it," Dumbledore said weakly.

"Mrs. Figg? My neighbour? I can't believe she's your spy! But she wouldn't know anything about the Dursleys. Why should she? She's just a neighbour. The only times I really saw her were when she babysat me for the Dursleys," Harry reasoned, feeling more composed now.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments until Dumbledore started speaking, "I have made a grave mistake, Harry. I hope you can forgive me. Lily was such a kind-hearted person that I never believed her family could be that cruel to a child. I ignored Minerva when she said the Dursleys were the worst kind of Muggles. I did not check up on you myself when Arabella reported that you were too small for your age. I- I thought they were just very stern. Please forgive an old man's mistake Harry." He finished tiredly, looking as if he had aged several years over the last few minutes.

"I can't believe it!" Sirius spluttered. "You left him there and never checked up on him?!!"

"Sirius, please wait for a moment before you get angry. I haven't finished talking to our Headmaster yet. You can yell at him all you want after that," Harry informed his godfather.

Both men looked at him with interest.

"You can tell us, Professor. What's your real reason for sending me to live with the Dursleys?"

"Harry, I told you it was to give you protection-"

"Professor Dumbledore, sorry for interrupting but you know there are wards much stronger than a blood ward. So, please don't keep using the protection excuse?" Hermione butted in.

"Just like Hermione had said, Professor… please come clean with us before you completely lose our trust," Harry said.

Dumbledore sighed and finally said, "Alright... I was preventing Harry from committing my past mistakes as well as from becoming another Dark Lord-"

"WHAT??!!" the remaining three occupants of the room yelled.

"Hear me out first before you come to your own conclusions. Tom Riddle was brought up in an orphanage where he was shunned by all other orphans, leading to his hate and anger developing inside him. I had wrongly assumed that the Dursleys could provide Harry with a proper family even if not the best," Dumbledore explained.

"I would choose an orphanage over them any day!" Harry muttered darkly.

Hermione patted his arm comfortingly and before he was reminded more of his horrible childhood, she prompted Dumbledore, "You mentioned something about preventing him from committing your past mistakes. What do you mean?"

"Always an insightful person, Miss Granger," the ex-Transfiguration Professor chuckled humourlessly. "I am ashamed to admit it now but I was a misguided fool in my youth. I believed in blood purity and thought wizards are better than Muggles. I made a whole lot of mistakes because of that… anyway, going back to our topic now… I did not want Harry to have any wrong conceptions about the Muggles and the best way to go about doing it was to place him with a Muggle family. I thought 'Who better than his aunt's family?' Now… after hearing how horribly your relatives treated you, I'm very relieved and glad that you turn out to be the way you are now, Harry."

"You were a blood purist?" Sirius wondered aloud.

"Yes Sirius, I once was and it brought so much pain into my life."

"I still can't believe you didn't check up on Harry. All your reasons for sending him to the Dursleys depended on them being nice and caring! Thank god Harry has a good heart! Or you'll have another Voldemort on your hands!" Hermione blurted out.

"Hermione! I'll be never be like Voldemort!" Harry exclaimed.

"I know Harry. This proves you didn't let the actions of others decide who you really are. I'm very proud of you."

"Me too, Harry," Sirius stated. "James and Lily would be proud of you too."

"Harry, my apologies would not get back the childhood you had lost but I want you to know that I regretted my decision to send you to them. I hope you find it in your heart one day to forgive an old man," Dumbledore said sadly.

"So I'll be living with Sirius from this summer onwards?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, Harry."

"And with me too!" Hermione added, earning a grin from her male companions.

"If that is all you want to talk to me about, then let us get back to the school," Dumbledore said.

"Wait Professor, that is not all. Hermione has something she wants to tell you," Harry answered.

"Oh… how may I help you, Miss Granger?"

Hermione smiled apologetically at Sirius and said, "Sirius, can I have this conversation with only Harry and Dumbledore? I know this is your house and all, but-"

"Ooohh… our Miss Granger has a secret she can't share with me!" Sirius teased. "It's okay, Hermione. I understand," he said, standing up and patting her shoulder.

"What is it about, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked after Sirius had left the room.

"It's about the prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort."

* * *

Thanks for reading the story! Please leave a review if you may! 


	14. Ch13: The Locket

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

A/N: I know it's been ages since I last updated but I've been busy and I ran into writer's block writing this chapter. Nevertheless, it is here now. Enjoy! Oh, by the way, there are spoilers for DH here.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 13 - The Locket  
**

xXXXXXx

"What is it about, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked after Sirius had left the room.

"It's about the prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort."

Had it not been for the seriousness of the situation, Harry would have burst out laughing at the comical way Dumbledore's expression changed from serenity to confusion and finally to troubled determination.

Harry was still smirking inside when Dumbledore drew his wand so swiftly that Harry did not have time to reason with the Headmaster before he sent a red bolt towards Hermione, who jumped out of harm's way just in time to dodge the spell by inches.

Releasing his own wand from his wand holster, Harry rushed to Hermione who was dodging another spell from Dumbledore. He quickly pulled her behind him and brandished his wand at Dumbledore.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Harry said hotly.

"Harry, stay away from her! That person is not Miss Granger. She could not have known about the prophecy," Dumbledore said urgently, still training his wand at them.

"I can assure you that she really is Hermione. Just because she knows about the prophecy does not make her an impostor!"

"Harry, please trust me."

"You've done nothing to earn my trust. Now you're attacking my friend without investigating anything!" Harry countered.

Dumbledore looked at him sadly and said, "I'm sorry." With a wave of his wand, Hermione went flying into his hand. Grabbing her by the hem of her robes, the old wizard stared into her eyes intently, his blue eyes gleaming in the dimly lit room.

A whimper broke out of Hermione's mouth, breaking Harry out of his temporary bewilderment. He quickly rushed towards them and saw small drops of blood trickling out of Hermione's nose.

"What're you doing to her?! Let her go now! Or I'll hex you, I swear!!" he yelled frantically but Dumbledore did not acknowledge his presence. He continued staring into Hermione's eyes.

Panicked, Harry tried to pry Dumbledore's hand away from her robes but he had a very firm grip for a wizard of his age. Not knowing how to help her, Harry looked at Hermione again for any indication but realized that her eyes were glazed over like an Imperiused person. Harry instantly knew Dumbledore was using Legilimency on her.

Feeling worried and fearful for her safety, Harry tried in vain to force her to break eye contact with Dumbledore and to look at him instead. Frustrated, he was ready to blast Dumbledore away when he found himself falling forward… falling and tumbling… through flashes of multicolour scenes, and finally falling onto a hard floor.

He quickly got up and found himself in a huge library with rows and rows of bookshelves packed with books. Harry suspected that he might be in Hermione's mind but he was not sure. The last time she showed him the memory of her infamous conversation with Ginny, he went straight to the scene… not some humongous library. He was about to reach for a book when he heard some noises at one end of the long row of bookshelves.

Frowning confusedly, he ran towards where the noise was coming from, hoping to solve the mystery of this new place and how he got there. When he reached the end of the row of bookshelves, there was a small empty area leading to a large wooden door which has cracks and splinters all over. It looked like it was going to break apart any time soon and in front of the severely battered door stood… Hermione.

"Hermione!!" he called out as he ran towards her.

Surprised, Hermione turned to look at him and was about to say something when a loud booming sound came from the door and a chunk of wood flew past their heads. Hermione grimaced and her face twisted into an expression of extreme concentration.

"Hermione, what's going on? Am I in your mind?" Harry asked.

"Yes," she gasped in reply, sounding as if she had run ten laps around the Great Lake.

Harry looked around wondering what was happening when he suddenly realized that Dumbledore was attacking her mind with Legilimency!

"Is it Dumbledore at the door?" he asked urgently.

He received a nod from her but she was otherwise utterly occupied in repelling Dumbledore's attack. Sweat was pouring off her body and she was breathing heavily.

Feeling helpless, he looked around, trying to figure out a way to help defend her mind but nothing seemed particularly useful. The blows on the door were getting stronger and louder and the giant doors shook heavily with each attempt from Dumbledore.

With a small cry, Hermione dropped to her knees and the entrance door to her meticulous mind broke into pieces revealing Albus Dumbledore, who looked surprised to see Harry there.

"S-stop him," she gasped as Dumbledore took a step towards them.

Not knowing how he could do that, Harry did the only thing that came to his mind at that instant – he lunged at Dumbledore and bodily pushed him out of the enormous library that was Hermione's mind. Dumbledore was caught unaware by Harry's sudden action and the two of them went flying several feet back and out of the library. Harry quickly picked himself up and drew his wand, not wanting to partake in a fist fight with the Headmaster, but when he looked around, the aged wizard was gone. Instead a teenaged version of Dumbledore was talking to a group of boys… in Hogwarts?

Hermione was nowhere to be seen and when Harry took a step closer to the boys, the scene changed and he was at a funeral… Dumbledore was standing besides a coffin, looking very upset.

"IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT!" yelled a boy beside Dumbledore. The boy, who looked quite a bit like Dumbledore, seemed to be crying. "YOU AND YOUR STUPID FRIEND! IT'S YOUR FAULT" he yelled again and threw a punch at an unsuspecting Dumbledore. Harry, however, didn't get to see Dumbledore's response because he was pushed further and further away from the scene… until he found himself staring at the floor of the Grimmauld Place kitchen.

Feeling disorientated, he shook his head slightly.

The first thing he noticed was Hermione… she was on her knees with blood dribbling down her nose, appearing very weak. He wasted no time in taking her in his arms and casting a few simple healing charms he had learned in their duelling sessions. Gingerly, he helped her up to one of the chairs around them.

Rustling of robes around them reminded him of Dumbledore's presence and he quickly cast the strongest protective shield he knew around them.

"Do not ever do that again!" he growled out dangerously at the gobsmacked wizard.

"Harry, I- I don't-"

Dumbledore's reply was cut off by Hermione, who drew her wand and said in a firm voice, "I swear on my life and magic that I am Hermione Granger and in no way, am I associated with Voldemort or his Death Eaters." A bluish glow appeared at her wand tip, surrounding her before dissipating away.

"What?! Then- then how-"

"After living more than one hundred years in the wizarding world, you should have known that everything is possible with magic," Hermione said plainly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said apologetically. "It seems one hundred years in the wizarding world has made me more senile that I thought."

The two teenagers let out a reluctant chuckle.

"So would you two tell an ignorant old man what is happening?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry exchanged a look with Hermione and said, "We will… if you take an Unbreakable Vow."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for awhile before he asked, "What are the terms of the unbreakable vow?"

"Simple… just that you'll keep what we tell you secret, you'll tell us everything about myself, Voldemort and the war, and that you'll work with us in the war against Voldemort. Oh, and you also won't force information out of us," Harry told him.

"Those terms are quite acceptable. Yes, I would take an Unbreakable Vow," Dumbledore finally said.

"I'll be the Bonder then," Hermione volunteered.

Harry and Dumbledore clasped their right hand together and Hermione held her wand tip at their linked hands.

"Will you, Albus Dumbledore, share with us everything you know about myself, Lord Voldemort and the war against him?" Harry asked firmly.

"I will." Dumbledore said.

A fiery red flame erupted from Hermione's wand and wound its way around their hands.

"Will you cooperate fully with us to bring about the final demise of Voldemort?"

"I will." A second flame shot out of her wand and wrapped around their hands.

"Will you agree to not force anything out of us without your consent?"

"I will."

"Will you keep everything we tell you a secret and not divulge anything without our permission?"

"I will." A final whip of flame now twisted around with the previous flames and bound their joined hands.

xXXXXXx

"So you know about the prophecy and the horcruxes," Dumbledore confirmed.

"Yes."

"May I ask how you find out about them, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked.

They were now sitting around the kitchen table again after performing the Unbreakable Vow.

"I'm sorry sir but I don't wish to tell you now. Maybe I will do so some day, but for now, it is sufficed to say we know about the prophecy and the horcruxes."

Dumbledore gave a defeated sigh. "How much do you know about them then?"

"Everything… from who made the prophecy to which baby it could've applied to," Harry answered.

"It is the full version? Not what Tom's spy heard?"

"Yes, we know the whole thing including Voldemort marking me as his equal and me having the power he knows not… although I'm not too sure what this power is," Harry replied.

"It's love, Harry. Love is something you have that Voldemort doesn't. Despite your harsh upbringing, your heart is big enough to receive and return love," Dumbledore explained, the twinkle returning to his eyes.

"Love?" Harry repeated. He frowned but kept quiet.

"You don't think love is the power," Dumbledore stated.

"Yes- No, what I meant was… how could love be the power I need to destroy Voldemort? It's just an emotion!"

"You must know this, Harry… emotions are the driving force behind everything wizards and witches do. Hatred and greed for power are what is driving Tom to become evil and cause such destruction. For you, love is what makes you the one able to defeat Tom. Remember, it is more than just an emotion."

Harry decided not to say anything for the time being. He looked at Hermione, wondering what she thought about this love thing but her face was expressionless.

Sighing, he said, "Alright. Enough about the prophecy for now… let's move on to the horcruxes. We know what they are and where they're located."

"You must tell me for they need to be destroyed as soon as possible. I will go search for them," Dumbledore said.

"No, sir," Harry countered. "_We_ will go. Together."

"Harry, I don't think-"

"Remember the Unbreakable Vow? Cooperate fully? Well, we're going with you and that's final," Harry spoke in a no non-sense manner.

Dumbledore reluctantly acquiesced.

"In fact, we can go look for one right now. It's right here in this house," Hermione stated.

"In this house?" Dumbledore asked, looking surprised.

"Yes. Sirius' brother, Regulus, found out about one and stole it but he was killed before he could destroy it. But he asked his elf to bring it back and it has been here ever since."

"It would make Sirius happy to know that his brother had tried to atone for his mistakes," Dumbledore said sadly. "What is the horcrux?"

"The Slytherin locket," Harry said. "I think we can get Sirius to ask Kreacher to get it for us."

"We will do so after we finish our talk here. Let us move on to the rest of the horcruxes now," the Headmaster said.

"The rest of the horcruxes are something we can discuss later… before we actually go searching for them. However, there's one more important thing I want to talk about," Hermione stated. "I want you to train us, especially Harry, in everything necessary for an encounter against Voldemort. God knows, you should've trained him earlier."

"I did not want Harry to have a burdened childhood. Besides, he is a very powerful wizard. He would have still found his way even without my help," Dumbledore explained.

Hermione gave a snort, "I don't think I'll ever understand your reasoning."

Dumbledore didn't comment but said, "As for your suggestion of training, it can be arranged of course. Thursday evenings after dinner?"

"That would be fine with us," Harry answered for both of them.

"We'll talk more about the horcruxes later. Let's get the locket for now and go," Hermione said in a firm voice, preventing more words from Dumbledore, who looked rather put out by it, making Harry chuckle inwardly.

Still smiling at Hermione's bossiness, Harry said, "I'll call Sirius in now. Why don't you do the talking sir? You can let him know the truth if you think it's okay."

Dumbledore nodded his agreement and said, "The fewer the number of people who know about it, the better. I don't think it's wise to tell Sirius as yet."

Opening the kitchen door, Harry yelled, "Sirius, we're done talking. Can you come down please? Dumbledore has something to ask you!"

"Coming!" came Sirius' reply.

As he sat down with them, Sirius asked, "What is it that you want to ask me, Albus?"

"Sirius, I've recently found out that there is an artefact in your house, which can bring Voldemort back-"

"WHAT?!!"

"Sirius, please listen to what I have to say. The artefact was stolen from Voldemort by your brother but he was killed before he could destroy it. I think your house-elf would know what and where it is."

"He tried to destroy it? I guess I was wrong to think there was no redemption for Regulus," Sirius said sorrowfully. "I'll ask Kreacher to bring it here. What does it look like?"

"It's a gold locket with a big 'S' on it," Dumbledore supplied.

"Kreacher!" Sirius yelled and the elf came with a pop, glaring maliciously at them.

"Kreacher, there is a locket in this house. Regulus took it from Voldemort. Do you know where it is?" he asked.

"I is not telling. Master Regulus ordered not to tell anyone. Kreacher is a good elf. He is listening to his master," Kreacher muttered.

"Kreacher, I'm your master now! Tell me where it is!" Sirius yelled.

But the aged elf ignored Sirius and started bawling. "I is not doing Master Regulus order. I is a bad elf." He tried to bang his head against the kitchen table.

Sirius impatiently grabbed the elf's shoulders. "Kreacher, I order you to tell me everything about how Regulus got the locket and what happened to it!" Sirius said strictly, a curious look on his face.

Harry had already known what happened from Hermione but he was eager to hear the first-hand version from Kreacher.

The elf glared at them but grudgingly answered, "Master Regulus sent Kreacher to the Dark Lord, who was taking him to that horrible place so Kreacher went. Kreacher was not wanting to but the Dark Lord was making Kreacher drink that awful potion! Kreacher listened because Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to follow the Dark Lord's orders. Kreacher went back to Master Reggie after that and told him what happened!"

"What happened afterwards? What did Reggie do?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"Kreacher was knowing Master Regulus was worried. He asked Kreacher to take him back to that horrible place so Kreacher did. Poor Master Reggie! Oh, he was drinking that potion!" Kreacher cried again.

"What potion? Tell me now, Kreacher!"

"Kreacher is not knowing. He was only listening to Master Regulus. He gave Kreacher the locket and told him to take it back and destroy it. Then the zombie people were coming and Master Reggie told Kreacher to leave him there. Kreacher was not wanting to but he listened to his Master."

"So, the locket… did you destroy it?" Sirius questioned.

"Kreacher is not knowing how. I is doing everything but Kreacher could not destroy it."

"Bring it to me now, Kreacher," Sirius ordered.

The house-elf murmured some obscenities under his breath but disappeared and came back a moment later with the locket. Sirius took it and looked at it briefly but handed it to Dumbledore.

"What are you going to do with it, Albus?" he asked.

"We need to destroy it, Sirius. Your brother sacrificed himself obtaining it and we must make his sacrifice count."

"What exactly is the locket, Albus? Why did Voldemort protect it with whatever potions and Inferi?" Sirius asked.

"I can't say much Sirius except that it is a dark object and it can resurrect Voldemort back to his body," Dumbledore answered evasively.

"We must go now, Sirius. Please make sure your elf does not leak this to anyone," the Headmaster warned and with a clap of his hands, Fawkes appeared in flames above them.

"Wait!" Sirius said. "I want to give Harry something."

He then ran out of the kitchen but came back a few minutes later holding a mirror. "Harry, this is a two-way communication mirror. Your father and I used it during our detentions," he said, making Dumbledore smile. "Just say my name into it and I'll use the other mirror to talk to you."

Giving Harry and Hermione a hug each, he told them, "Be always on your toes, Harry. You never know who's planning what. And Hermione, please take care of him for me."

"Don't worry, Sirius. I've got him under control," Hermione replied jokingly, earning herself a mock glare from Harry.

With a final goodbye to Sirius, Fawkes swooped down and took them back to Hogwarts.

* * *

A/N: I had trouble writing Dumbledore's reaction... I hope I didn't overdo it. Another thing is the Slytherin locket. I used what happened in book7 because I think what Regulus did was rather touching. 

Please leave a review. :)


	15. Ch14: Teachings of the Aged & the Youth

Disclaimer: All characters in Harry Potter belong to JKRowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros, etc... No infringement intended and no monetary benefits made.

A/N: I'm afraid this chapter isn't much... more like a filler chapter than anything. But I've got exams coming up and if I don't update now, it would take another month or longer.

* * *

**Without You **

**Chapter 14 - Teachings of the Aged & the Youth **

xXXXXXx

In a bright red flash, Harry and Hermione with Dumbledore were back in the Headmaster's office.

"The night definitely was full of surprises. Well, I suggest you two go back to your dormitories. I will write you two a pass in case you run into Mr. Filch," Dumbledore said while writing on a piece of parchment on his table.

"Wait! Do you know how to destroy the locket?" Harry asked.

"The soul fragment is interwoven into the very core of the host object with magic. In order to destroy it, you have to damage the Locket beyond any form of repairs… or you can overpower the horcrux magic with your own. Either way, the soul fragment will be destroyed," he answered. "But you should not worry about this. I will see to it," he added quickly.

Harry nodded and was ready to go back to the Gryffindor common room when he noticed that Hermione was looking at Dumbledore suspiciously.

"You're thinking of destroying it in the second way, aren't you?" she asked accusingly.

Dumbledore looked startled… because his plans were seen through by a student or because he was talked to like a small child, Harry did not know.

But he quickly composed himself and said, "Miss Granger, this is a relic of a Hogwarts founder from one thousand years ago. As Headmaster, it is my duty to at least keep it intact."

Both Harry and Hermione huffed in disbelief but Hermione was the quicker one to give her opinion.

"That's rubbish and you know it! You could kill yourself in doing so and still could not be sure whether the soul piece is destroyed or not. It's an awfully dangerous and reckless thing to do. We're not going to take that risk… No!" she reasoned vehemently.

Dumbledore sighed. "I am quite aware of it, Miss Granger… but I cannot destroy it knowing that it once belonged to Salazaar Slytherin. It would be like permanently deleting a course of history," the Headmaster replied.

"That's exactly what it is! History! We cannot live in the past… we have to live in the present and prepare for the future." Harry pointed out. "Besides, I don't think we're deleting any history at all. Slytherin lived a thousand years ago and yes, he had done his share of great things but this Locket was his personal item. It shouldn't relate to any historical events or happenings."

"Well said, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

Something Harry couldn't identify shifted in Dumbledore's eyes before he gave them a sad smile. "You have grown up right in front of my eyes and yet, I have failed to witness it. You will be a great wizard one day, Harry… greater and wiser than I ever was."

"Does that mean you're not doing it anymore?" Harry asked hopefully.

The aged wizard nodded. "Even until now, the erroneous views from my youth still influence my actions sometimes. I shall look into the other means of destroying it as soon as possible then."

"You should try Acromantula venom," Hermione suggested before she took Harry's hand and headed to the Gryffindor common room.

xXXXXXx

The next evening, after their daily practice, Harry and Hermione were sitting in the Room of Requirement and discussing the events that had transpired the previous day.

"Do you think we can trust Dumbledore now?" Harry asked as he sipped on his pumpkin juice.

"I don't know if we can fully trust him but at least we know he'll have to follow the conditions of the Unbreakable Vow," Hermione answered, sipping her own drink.

"Good. I don't know what his intentions are but at least we're working towards the same goal now. The Unbreakable Vow is one of the best ideas you've come up with," he remarked. "There's no loop hole out of it right?" he added.

"Of course not!" she answered, giving him a mock glare.

Laughing at her antics, he pulled her close to him. "I should know better than to doubt the brightest witch of our age, shouldn't I?"

As Hermione snuggled closer to him, she said contently, "And don't you forget that Mr. Potter."

"But, yesterday went rather well in my opinion," he commented.

"Humph… you would say so! You didn't get your mind attacked!" Hermione grumbled crossly, poking him hard in the ribs.

"Ouch! Hermione!" he yelped but his face turned contrite as he said, "But you're right, of course. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to imply that Dumbledore forcing on your mind with Legilimency was nothing."

"I know, Harry. It's just that I'm still quite angry about it. Dumbledore is just so… self-righteous. He didn't give us time to explain… he thinks everything he does is the best!" she griped darkly, absently rubbing the spot she had poked earlier.

"I never thought Dumbledore could be like this. I've always thought of him in a positive light… you know, like some perfect being, who could do no wrong."

"Nobody is perfect Harry… Dumbledore the least of all," Hermione reminded him. "I don't begin to comprehend his obsession with founders' relics but I could still remember him wearing the Slytherin ring in plain view last time. Voldemort could have seen! I didn't know what he was thinking then… just like I didn't know what he was thinking last night when he hinted that he wanted to overpower the Locket and keep it."

"He's mental!" Harry jokingly imitated Ron.

"I think Dumbledore has been in 'The most powerful wizard' position for too long… people always look up to him for decisions and it makes him think his decisions are right… or at least the best choice," Hermione tried to reason.

"I don't care why he's that way. I don't know… I think I'm disappointed, you know… like a child whose hero does something he doesn't approve of and it makes him upset."

"Yeah, I know," she murmured as she traced invisible line on his chest. "I'm glad we're safe from his Legilimency now."

"But hey! I did protect you yesterday!" Harry remarked suddenly. "Shouldn't I get a reward or something?" he asked cheekily.

"Hold your horses now Harry. I have something else of importance that I need to talk to you about," Hermione said.

"What is it?"

"It's about Ron."

"What about him?" Harry questioned.

"Are you going to tell him? You know, about the prophecy?"

Harry kept quiet for the short moment he spent thinking but finally said, "Ron is a good friend and I know I can trust him completely with the secret but… I don't think I trust his reaction. He's still quite immature and tends to get into those… jealous fits. I'm afraid he would not see the prophecy for what it really is - a terrible curse. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I think I can understand your reasoning… and it is very perceptive of you," Hermione said looking into his eyes. "But whatever your decision is, you have my full support."

"I'm glad I have you on my side. Now can I get my reward?" he added with a puppy dog look on his face.

Chuckling, Hermione crawled onto his lap and rewarded him so thoroughly that the two of them were otherwise occupied to speak for the next several minutes.

xXXXXXx

The days passed by relatively in peace and it was Thursday before they knew it – the day Dumbledore agreed to train them. Despite having the memories of her thirty-five-year-old self, Hermione was very excited about their evening lesson with the Headmaster. After all, it was a very rare opportunity for anybody to be trained by Albus Dumbledore himself.

After Ron had beaten Harry three times in chess, the two Gryffindors excused themselves and made their way to Dumbledore's office. They had told Ron that they were doing some extra-credit project with the Headmaster, which made the redhead think they were 'mental'.

Even though they had reconciled with the youngest Weasley boy, the interaction between the trio had been rather tense especially on Ron's part since he had admitted that he might still like Hermione. Luna, however, still made her appearances and was quite adamant in getting Ron to talk to her, which Hermione wholeheartedly encouraged. Harry teased her about her eagerness to push the redhead into liking the eccentric yet likable Ravenclaw.

As the pair went into Dumbledore's office, they were met by the Headmaster with his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Lemon drop?" he offered.

Harry and Hermione shook their heads politely.

"More for me then," he said as he popped the sweet into his mouth. "Now, before we begin our session today, I want to let you know that the Slytherin Locket has been destroyed."

Harry and Hermione grinned widely. "That's really great! Two down, four more to go... and Voldemort himself of course!" Harry exclaimed.

Dumbledore smiled at Harry but addressed his question to Hermione, "Miss Granger, may I ask how you know that Acromantula venom would destroy the horcrux… or is it one of your secrets as well?" Dumbledore added after seeing Hermione's reluctant expression.

"It is, sir. I do not want to disclose the information for now," Hermione confirmed strongly.

He sighed quietly. "I respect your wishes, Miss Granger. However, if you happen to know the location of the rest of the horcruxes, you have to let me know."

"I will, sir, when the time is right," Hermione replied firmly, closing further negotiation on the subject.

"Very well then," the Headmaster acquiesced. "Now to start off with our lesson today, I need to know whether Harry knows Occlumency as much as Miss Granger does. If not, it is where we should begin," Dumbledore said.

"Harry is as competent as I am in Occlumency. He can block out a Boggart if you want to know his level," Hermione offered.

"That's very good," Dumbledore exclaimed, looking quite impressed. "It is quite sufficient unless you are tortured mentally by a master Legilimen for information."

A scowl appeared on Hermione's face and she muttered under her breath, "just like you did." Dumbledore did not hear or pretended not to hear. Harry smiled affectionately at her.

"You shall not be learning Occlumency here then unless you have a question," Dumbledore continued.

"Yes, yes I do have a question now that you speak of it. When I was in Hermione's mind, it was this huge library, but when I got into your mind, it was just memories… and my own mind is also just a jumble of memories. Why is Hermione's mind any different?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore smiled as he answered, "I would expect nothing less from Miss Granger. She, Harry, had organized and categorized her memories. The library you saw is just her way of doing so. Though it is well protected, my mind, I'm afraid, is quite disorderly unlike Miss Granger's, which is why you only saw flashes of memories."

"So, I can organize my mind and have it become a library as well?" Harry wondered.

"Yes, and no," replied Dumbledore.

Harry gave him a confused look but it was Hermione who responded. "Yes, you can organize your thoughts and memories… and no, it doesn't have to be library. It can be anything… as long as you can keep them in the manner you want. It can be a… a house or even a Quidditch pitch."

"A Quidditch pitch?!" Harry repeated, raising an eyebrow at her suggestion.

"I'm just giving you an example," she retorted although he could see a hint of a smile.

"It appears that Miss Granger is no stranger to the topic. I am sure she will be more than happy to help you with it. Now, let us move onto other matters, shall we?" Dumbledore spoke.

He flicked his wand and half a dozen books came floating from a bookshelf, which was located at the side of the room. Picking out three particularly thick books, he pushed them towards his students and said merrily, "These books should last you quite some time… even you Miss Granger."

"Are those for us to read?" Hermione asked gleefully, which made her companions smile at her enthusiasm.

"Yes, Miss Granger. They are for you to read… and practise. These books contain very advanced level of magic and I will be lending them to you. You are to read them and learn what you think is necessary from them. I will not go through every single charm and hex in them with you but if you encounter any difficulties with any of them, you can bring it up to me and we can discuss," Dumbledore described.

"So that's all we're going to do with you?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, my boy. We will be doing more than that… something books cannot offer. I agree it is very helpful to have vast amount of knowledge at your disposal when you are in a fight with Death Eaters or anybody else for that matter. But you also need to develop techniques and strategies which you can only gain through experience. That is what I am going to help you with – experience."

"We're going to duel with you then?" Harry wondered.

"Perhaps… but I do not want you to worry about it for now. I have everything planned," Dumbledore reassured them.

They nodded uncertainly.

"Now, today's lesson is only for me to gauge what to start teaching you, so don't expect much. It will just be a discussion between us," he informed.

The teens looked disappointed but nodded their agreement.

Dumbledore continued, "I said just now that knowing large number of spells is very useful, but sometimes, it could also be harmful depending on the individual. Tell me how it can be harmful," Dumbledore prompted.

"Some people might spend too much time pondering what spell to use," Hermione answered instantly, making Harry wonder whether she used to have that problem in the previous timeline.

"Very good, Miss Granger. Unless you can cast them with absolute certainty and efficiency, it is imprudent to attempt any intricate spells when you're in a life-or-death situation. Besides, you do not have the time or the luxury to think too long about which spell to use. You need to be fast and effective… be sure to use something that you have a lot of practice with," the Headmaster instructed.

"Now… apart from having a lot of spells at your fingertips, what else do you need?" he questioned.

Harry looked at Hermione, expecting her to give the answers again but she was signalling him with her eyes to answer the question this time.

"Erm… I don't know… your aim, I guess. I mean people don't care much about their spell precision because they don't really need it in everyday life. But in duelling it's totally different. The spells need to be aimed precisely and what's harder is that your target moves," Harry provided.

Dumbledore nodded, encouraging him to continue.

And so, it went on with Dumbledore asking them questions and then supplementing their answers with certain minor yet important things that they had left out. More than an hour had passed since they arrived and finally Dumbledore deemed it was time for the night's lesson to come to a stop.

"I think it is enough for today. Please come to the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy for next week's lesson. It will be a practical lesson."

"We're using the Room of Requirement," Harry questioned.

Dumbledore chuckled, "I should not be surprised that you two know about the Room of Requirement… but yes, we will have our practice session there next week. I trust you will come to me with any problems you might have with the books?"

At their nod, the aged wizard bide them good night as they left his office.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed and many thanks to those who reviewed! 


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